Elizabeth Yeampierre

Elizabeth was born and raised in New York City. Coming from a home that was politically and spiritually grounded in Puerto Rican culture and African Ancestry, she learned that the sacrifice and power of people who struggled to abrir camino should always be at the heart of all we do. Consequently, as Executive Director of UPROSE - the oldest Latino community based organization in Brooklyn - Elizabeth works to build community power. In 1996, Elizabeth helped shift UPROSE's mission to organizing, advocacy and developing intergenerational, indigenous leadership through activism. Elizabeth was an instrumental part of the New York City environmental justice leadership responsible for getting New York State's first brownfield legislation passed. Elizabeth successfully organized a community wide coalition and is credited for facilitating the defeat of a 520 mega-watt power plant application in her community. Elizabeth developed a community based planning model to ensure that the UPROSE Greenway design is a community led greenway design. $8.4 million dollars have been allocated for the greenway and the waterfront park. She secured $1,000,000. for pollution reduction projects that are being shared and distributed throughout the community. Because supporting the New York City Environmental Justice movement is important, Elizabeth is a co-founder of CURE (Communities United for Responsible Energy) and OWN (Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods) and Co-Chair of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. She was also a member of the Mayor's Task Force on Energy.

She received her BA in Political Science from Fordham University and her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law. She is admitted to practice in the States of New York and New Jersey. Elizabeth C. Yeampierre received the 2004 National Latina Leadership Award from the National Foundation of Women Legislators and its affiliate, the National Council of La Raza, the country's largest Hispanic civil rights organization. Her other recent accolades include the 2003 Asian Americans for Equality's Dream of Equality Award and the Comite Noviembre Hispanic Heritage Award. Elizabeth lives, works, and plays in Brooklyn with her husband Eddie, and son, Rico.