FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2024
Contact: Chris Dobens, 718-679-8542, chris@weact.org
WASHINGTON — Leslie G. Fields, Esq. brings nearly 30 years of experience in federal and international environmental justice and environmental and civil rights policy and law to her new role as WE ACT for Environmental Justice’s Chief Federal Officer. She most recently led the Regional Energy Democracy Initiative at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Justice and Equity. Prior to that project, she spent 16 years with the Sierra Club, a grassroots environmental organization with millions of members dedicated to defending everyone’s right to a healthy world, having served as its National Environmental Justice Director and departing as the National Director, Policy Advocacy and Legal. She spearheaded and supported national policy, advocacy, and legal strategy at one of the nation’s most progressive civic organizations, cultivating collaborative relationships with dozens of local chapters and community groups.
“We are thrilled to have Leslie take the helm of our thriving Federal Policy Office,” said Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “She is an internationally recognized leader in the environmental justice movement who has been working in Washington for decades, with strong, long-established relationships throughout federal agencies and on the Hill. She is a longtime friend and colleague, familiar with our organization and immersed in the work we do, and she will leverage that depth of experience and leadership to take our federal policy work to new heights.”
WE ACT for Environmental Justice established its Federal Policy Office in Washington, DC in 2012 to advance the federal policy needs and interests of its Northern Manhattan community. It has a long track record of successfully working with lawmakers, agencies, and other organizations to advocate on behalf of environmental justice legislation and policies as well as in building power and strengthening that environmental justice movement. It is the only environmental justice organization based outside of Washington to have a permanent office there.
Leslie Fields serves on the board of the Children’s Environmental Health Network, Center for Progressive Reform, Empower DC, and Adeso African Solutions. She was also an adjunct law professor at Howard University School of Law. She is a graduate of Cornell University, the Georgetown University Law Center, and licensed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Fields replaces Senior Director of Strategy and Federal Policy Dana Johnson, who was the dynamic leader of that office for the past five years.
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WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan membership-based organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram.