Vanderbilt Business and UBC Sauder are honored to celebrate Black History Month by highlighting leaders in the world of sustainability who are driving real-world change in their industries and communities.
Join us in celebrating the individual journeys of these remarkable leaders, whose contributions are not just shaping their fields but also inspiring a global movement towards a more sustainable future.
Lisa P. Jackson
Lisa P. Jackson was the first African American to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on pollution prevention and reducing greenhouse gases. Jackson is now Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. She leads Apple’s $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, focused on education, economic opportunity, and criminal justice reform — and is responsible for Apple’s education policy programs, its product accessibility work, and its worldwide government affairs function.
She is currently working diligently to help Apple achieve carbon neutrality across Apple’s entire business and supply chain by 2030. This is being done through new innovations and operations to Apple’s lineups of products and integrating more green initiatives, like prioritizing recycling of device components and using 40% recycled materials in the MacBook Air with an M2 chip, to cut its emissions impact by 30%.
Alicia M. Richins
Alicia Richins is an environmental consultant with experience in international development, nonprofits and community organizations. She advocates for the use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding framework to help social enterprises and non-profits optimize their social and environmental impact strategies. She also serves as Director of Programming for Leading Change Canada, an organization focused on activating youth sustainability leadership for the transition to a low carbon economy within a generation.
Warren Washington
Warren Washington is an atmospheric scientist known for his pioneering climate research and modeling. As his research developed, Washington worked to incorporate the oceans and sea ice into climate models. These models now include components that depict surface hydrology and vegetation, the atmosphere, oceans, and sea ice.
Washington is the second African American to earn a doctorate in the atmospheric sciences, helping to pave the way for others to follow in his footsteps into the field. He has also mentored dozens of graduate students and undergraduates in the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)-based SOARS program (Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science). In 1999, Washington won the Dr. Charles Anderson Award from the American Meteorological Society for his role as a mentor and his passionate support of individuals, educational programs, and outreach initiatives to encourage diversity among atmospheric scientists.
Robert Bullard
Robert Bullard is considered the “father of environmental justice”, for his instrumental work in advocating for environmental justice and policy reform. He is the founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice and a distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University. In 2021, President Joe Biden named him to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC).
Bullard most recently celebrated a victory in environmental justice after USA Waste of Texas Landfills, Inc. withdrew its application to expand the Hawthorn Park Landfill. Also, the American Geographical Society (AGS) recently awarded Dr. Robert Bullard the prestigious 2023 John E. Gould Medal for his outstanding contributions to ethical geography.
Marjorie Richard
Marjorie Richard is an environmental justice activist who founded Concerned Citizens of Norco and has been successful in her fight against environmental injustices in Louisiana. Marjorie secured an agreement from Shell Chemical to reduce its toxic emissions by 30%, contributed $5 million to a community development fund, and financed the relocation of community members in Louisiana.
Richard’s campaign has been hailed as a landmark environmental justice victory. She also holds the distinction as the first African American to win the Goldman Environmental Prize. Her triumph stands as an example of corporate accountability in the sustainability realm, helping organizations become more socially and environmentally aware of the impacts of their operations and when is best to integrate more sustainability practices and focus into them.
Mustafa Santiago Ali
Mustafa Santiago Ali is Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation. Ali worked for 24 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He began working on social justice issues at the age of 16 and joined the EPA as a student, becoming a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). Throughout his career, he has conducted more than 1,000 presentations across the country, including speeches, training, and guest lectures at over 100 colleges and universities.
Catherine Coleman Flowers
Catherine Coleman Flowers is the Founder and CEO of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise, working on water and sanitation equity. Among other honors and titles, she is Vice Chair for the WHEJAC and a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient. In 2021, she was featured in a 60 Minutes special broadcast highlighting Americans fighting for access to sewage disposal.
Fostering Excellence with the Global Certificate in Corporate Sustainability
Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Business and the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business are dedicated to promoting sustainability awareness and acknowledging its success by offering a fully online Global Certificate in Corporate Sustainability program. This program, centered around corporate sustainability, is designed to equip professionals with the knowledge, tools, and mindset to integrate sustainability into core business strategies, ensuring long-term resilience and success. By participating in this online certificate program, you will be empowered to:
- Define sustainability at your workplace.
- Uncover why businesses embrace sustainability and how they initiate change.
- Navigate external societal pressures and craft responsive strategies.
- Evaluate corporate eco-actions, climate strategies, and unique sustainability paths.