Rose Vollaro ‘24 (they/them) is the Cecil Corbin-Mark Communications Fellow at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. They focus on managing and improving WE ACT’s social media and other digital advocacy work. Previously, Rose worked under the Honorable Judge Wang in the Southern District of New York, worked on-site in rural Panama developing sustainable growth for small business owners, and with RES Company doing advocacy for the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury community.
Rose graduated from Macaulay Honors College CUNY Baruch with a B.S. in Business and Sustainability. Their studies focus on the intersection of social entrepreneurship and building resilient social sustainability systems. Outside of environmental justice, Rose is passionate about getting non-male and LGBT+ communities involved in sports and fitness. On the weekends they enjoy playing soccer or enjoying New York City’s parks.
Mariclaire Joseph ‘24 (she/her) is WE ACT for Environmental Justice’s Cecil Corbin-Mark Civic Engagement & Organizing Fellow. Mariclaire’s desire to advocate for environmental stewardship and justice began at an early age, having grown up in a heavily industrialized section of New Jersey alongside chemical manufacturing facilities, oil refineries, and Superfund sites. While she began an academic trajectory focusing on marine science and conservation policy inspired by her coastal roots, she felt the desire to forge a pathway that prioritized the human element in the issues she studied, as she found successful fieldwork was best achieved when science and policy dovetailed consistent and abundant community involvement.
In a recent return to academia, Mariclaire sought to gain a more robust understanding of law, governance, and climate systems to bolster her passion for advocacy in the realms of environmental and climate justice. Her passion for community engagement stems from the desire to spark dialogue and rally commonality around social, political, and environmental issues where division and polarization have worked against the pursuit of equitable solutions, protections, and actionable change. Mariclaire holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Sustainable Development conferred by Columbia University’s Climate School.
Former Cecil Corbin-Mark Fellows
Caleb Smith ‘22 (they/them) is the Resiliency Coordinator at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. They are a lead facilitator of the Extreme Heat Coalition launched as an extension of the Heat, Health, and Equity initiative. The Coalition seeks to protect urban residents from heat stress through policy, adaptation, and mitigation strategies by integrating nature-based solutions, green infrastructure, social resilience planning, as well as renewable and affordable energy programs. Caleb received a Bachelor of Arts in Politics at the University of San Francisco and Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University. Previously they served as a Special Assistant to the Mayor in Oakland, where they worked to address illegal dumping and helped implement community-led projects to serve local environmental justice communities as part of the Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors Initiative.
As a Cecil Corbin-Mark Fellow, Caleb Smith’s scope of work revolved around resiliency, climate change, and energy research and advocacy. This included facilitating community outreach for the Long-term Energy Plan (Power Up NYC!) and utility debt workshops, providing research and testimony at city hearings and a Con Edison rate case, and supporting the Better Buildings New York coalition, which focuses on policies to transition the State off gas. While still serving as a fellow, Caleb urged a majority co-sponsorship of Local Law 032 of 2023, phasing down the use of fuel oil number 4 by 2027 instead of 2030. They also launched our statewide Extreme Heat Coalition, advancing the goals of the Heat, Health, and Equity campaign by building a movement toward resilience, adaptation, and mitigation against extreme heat grounded in the disproportionate burden placed on urban disadvantaged communities.
Cameron Clarke ‘23 (he/him) is the NY HEAT Campaign Coordinator at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. He previously worked as a policy researcher at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and as a special assistant to the commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department, where he developed the health department’s environmental justice outreach strategy. Originally from Jersey City, Cameron studied biology and community health education at Howard University, earned master’s degrees in social and public policy from the University of Oxford, and is currently completing his M.D. at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. His work at WE ACT focuses on environmental health policy, toxic exposures, and disparities in asthma and respiratory diseases.
As the Cecil Corbin-Mark fellow in 2023, Cameron worked with the Environmental Health team on research and education projects that impact residents of Northern Manhattan and the rest of New York State. His background is in medicine (he is currently taking a research year from medical school at Columbia University), so his main focus has been researching asthma, but he has also helped support the work of the Climate Justice Working Group, including the Climate Ready Uptown Plan campaign, which provides extreme heat and disaster preparedness workshops to communities across Northern Manhattan, and the Our Homes Under Our Control campaign, which aims to keep New York affordable for tenants by advocating for universal rent stabilization and ending subsidies to natural gas utilities, reinvesting the savings into community renewable energy projects, and capping the costs of utilities for New Yorkers.
Tali Natter ‘23 (she/her) is the Research Coordinator at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, having previously served as the Cecil Corbin-Mark Environmental Justice Research Fellow. She works on research, mapping, and data analysis to support WE ACT’s Federal Policy Office in its efforts towards equitable and just environmental practices and legislation. Prior to joining WE ACT, Tali held environmental education internships at the National Geographic Society and the CityParks Foundation. Originally from Morningside Heights, she recently graduated from Williams College with a BA in American studies and a concentration in environmental studies. Tali’s other research interests include environmental storytelling, participatory community research and organizing, and education.
Tali’s other accomplishments include creating Justice40rward storymaps to recap the community tours from last year, contributing to various research and analysis on emerging energy policies, specifically false solutions like hydrogen and liquefied natural gas, and supporting analysis of proposed federal laws, rules, and tools to prioritize environmental justice communities in legislation. Tali’s long-term goal for this fellowship is to continue contributing to research that advances community advocacy and supports implementation of equitable policy.
Elizabeth “Liz” Reyes ‘22 (she/her) is the Toxics Policy Campaigns Coordinator at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx, she graduated from Middlebury College where she majored in environmental justice. Liz was a Community Connected Learning Project Assistant at Middlebury, where she supported students working with community-based organizations on their civic skills, leadership, and community engagement. She also worked with a local frontline community that faced a disproportionate risk of flooding, creating an ethical storytelling project that gave residents a voice in decisions being made in their community. Liz learned about WE ACT during her senior year of high school, which set her on course for a career in environmental justice.
Elizabeth Reyes was a Cecil Corbin-Mark Fellow in 2022. She supported the policy team, helping advance our policy work on toxic chemicals as well as engaging members on these issues. This included strengthening state and city legislation to prevent childhood lead poisoning, a cause which Cecil was particularly passionate about. During her time as a fellow, Liz was able to accomplish everything she wanted to and more. She got to testify at various City Council oversight hearings, speak with State legislators about bills we were advancing, and connect with many WE ACT members and Northern Manhattan residents about their different experiences with toxics. She even had the opportunity to travel halfway across the world to help with our Climate Justice Pavilion at COP27 in Egypt!
Rachel Wissner is the Individual Giving Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice.