NEW ORLEANS – Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its appointees for the first-ever Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Federal Advisory Council (HBCU-MSI FAC) naming DSCEJ Founder and Executive Director Dr. Beverly Wright as a vice chair.
The establishment of EPA’s HBCU-MSI Federal Advisory Council supports President Biden’s Executive Order 14035, which seeks to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) within the federal workforce. This Executive Order underscores the importance of a federal workforce that reflects the full diversity of the American people. The HBCU-MSI FAC aligns with this vision, ensuring that diverse voices contribute to shaping the EPA’s policies and practices.
“It is with great humility and enthusiasm that I accept the appointment as Vice Chair of the newly created HBCU-MSI Federal Advisory Council at the U.S. EPA. As a proud graduate of Grambling State University, I know the power of these institutions, the sense of duty and excellence that they instill in their students, and the way that they buttress their communities.” said Dr. Beverly Wright. “I am thrilled to be part of bringing that unique voice and knowledge to the EPA. I believe it will lend itself to inspired solutions for some of our biggest challenges and help us chart the course to an environmentally just future.”
The HBCU-MSI Federal Advisory Council is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader efforts to promote equity in economic and educational opportunities, protect public health, and preserve the environment.
Administrator Michael Regan selected 20 members who were chosen based on their specific expertise/experience and will serve as representative members of non-Federal interests, community-based organizations, research, and academia. Members will serve a two-year term from 2024 to 2026. The council expects to meet approximately 2 to 3 times a year for in-person or virtual meetings.
HBCU-MSI Federal Advisory Council Members:
- Chair: Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, Managing Partner, AHK Global Resources
- Vice Chair: Heather Himmelberger, Director, University of New Mexico Southwest Environmental Finance Center
- Vice Chair: Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder and Executive Director, DSCEJ
- Vice Chair: Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, President, California State University –Fresno
- Abre Conner, Director, Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, NAACP
- Andrew Kozich, Environmental Science Department Chair, Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College
- Angelina Adams, Counselor – Career Services, Haskell Indian Nations University
- Darryl Ann Lai Fang, Senior Director of Strategy Execution, UNCF
- Eric O’Rear, Senior Research Analyst, Rhodium Group
- Gail Bassette, Director of Economic Development/Strategic Engagement, Bowie State University
- Jerryl Briggs, President, Mississippi Valley State University
- Lena Rodriguez, Vice President of Governmental Affairs, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
- Mark Brown, President and CEO, Tuskegee University
- Melva Wallace, Huston-Tillotson University
- Michael Johnson, Chief of Staff, PROPEL Center
- Mike Hoa Nguyen, Member, Board of Trustees, Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education & Assistant Professor of Education, New York University
- Ray Shackleford, Vice President for Equitable Justice and Strategic Initiatives, National Urban League
- Sharon Jones, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, university of Washington-Bothell
- Vann Newkirk, President, Wilberforce University
- Phil Weilerstein, President & CEO, VentureWell
Dr. Beverly Wright’s Bio:
Dr. Beverly Wright is an environmental justice scholar, advocate, author, civic leader, professor of Sociology, and the founder and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. She is also a founding co-chair of the HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium and the HBCU Climate Change Consortium. She received a BA from Grambling College and an MA and PhD in Sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
She has received distinguished awards and co-authored numerous works highlighting the injustices of environmental hazards on communities of color.
Dr. Wright is a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and serves on the Justice40 Initiative Workgroup and the Carbon Management Committee under the Biden-Harris Administration.
For more information about the HBCU-MSI Federal Advisory Council and the EPA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, please visit their webpage or reach out to at HBCU-MSI.AC@epa.gov.
