On August 7, 2022, Francia Márquez became the first Black woman to be elected Vice President of Colombia. The following year, she was also sworn in as Minister of Women and Equality in the Cabinet of Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Marquez, a noted social activist … Read MoreFrancia Márquez (1981- )
Dr Robert Nobles is the Vice President for Research Administration at Emory University. His appoint began on December 1, 2019. Prior to that role, he was the Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement at the University of Tennessee until December 2019 and Associate Vice … Read MoreRobert Nobles (? -)
Dorceta E. Taylor is an environmental sociologist who specializes in environmental justice and racism in the environmental movement. In 1991 she became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. from Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Taylor is now a professor of environmental … Read MoreDorceta E. Taylor (1957- )
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, environmental strategist, and policy expert. Born on August 23, 1980 to a teacher and an architect, Johnson was raised in Brooklyn, New York. Johnson earned a BA in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University in 2002. … Read MoreAyana E. Johnson (1980- )
Located in Palm Beach County, Pahokee, Florida is a small city with a population of approximately 6,269 people. Every October, residents of Pahokee witness the fall of “black snow.” The “snow” is a sooty byproduct of the agricultural practice of burning the sugar cane fields … Read More2) Pahokee, Florida (1909- )
Calestous Juma was a Kenyan scientist and university scholar who primarily focused on sustainable development. He served as a Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at the Harvard Kennedy School. Juma also served as the … Read MoreCalestous Juma (1953-2017)
Michael Stanley Regan, Sr. is the first African American to lead the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its 16th Administrator. He was nominated to serve as Administrator by President Joe Biden on December 17, 2020. The United States Senate confirmed the nomination on … Read MoreMichael Stanley Regan, Sr. (1976- )
Norris McDonald, a leading black environmentalist, is the founder and president of the African American Environmental Association (AAEA), an organization dedicated to protecting the environment, enhancing human, animal and plant ecologies, and increasing African American participation in the environmental movement. Norris McDonald was born to … Read MoreNorris McDonald (1958- )
Wangari Maathai, the most prominent environmental activist in Africa, was the 2004 recipient of the Alfred Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Muta was born on April 1, 1940, in Ihithe, Nyeri Province, Kenya during British colonial rule. Her family was of Kikuyu origin, and her father … Read MoreWangari Muta Maathai (1940-2011)
In 2006 Sophia Danenberg became the first African American and first Black woman from anywhere in the world to climb the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest in the Himalayas (Nepal). Sophia Marie Scott was born in 1972 in Homewood, Illinois (a southern suburb … Read MoreSophia Danenberg (1972- )
