Fellows List
Mayra Cruz
Mayra Cruz is the Climate Resilience Program Manager at Catalyst Miami. She manages CLEAR (Community Leadership on the Environment, Advocacy, and Resilience) Miami, which provides social justice, community organizing, and climate resilience training to community members. She also supports Catalyst’s work on disaster preparedness and increasing clean energy opportunities for vulnerable communities. Cruz graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences with a Certificate in Climate and Health.
Foundation Sponsor:
Barr Foundation
Host Organization:
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Alexis Cureton
My name is Alexis Omar Cureton. Currently, I am a Graduate student receiving my MPA from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs with a concentration in Energy and Policy Analysis. I received my undergraduate degree from Clark Atlanta University in Sociology. I seek to gain a better understanding of the intersectionality of energy access as it pertains to energy equity being uses as a tool to achieve sustainable economic development for minority communities. My favorite quote is “We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.” -Malcolm X
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
Northwest SEED
Karina Herrera
My name is Karina Herrera. I graduated from Harvard University in 2013 with a degree in Environmental Science and Engineering. Following graduation, I served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in my hometown, Fresno, CA. There I worked at Fresno State on increasing the number of underrepresented minorities receiving STEM degrees and at the nonprofit HandsOn on addressing low early education literacy rates through increased classroom volunteers. I am currently a first-year graduate student at the Bren School for Environmental Science & Management, UC Santa Barbara, specializing in water resources management.
Foundation Sponsor:
William Penn Foundation
Host Organization:
William Penn Foundation
Kassandra Hishida
I grew up in Fresno, CA and earned my BS in Environmental Science at Fresno State. Despite being situated in a city greatly impacted by air pollution, pesticide drift, and food insecurity, few of my science classes discussed the issues facing our own community members. I applied to graduate programs in order to better understand the connections between these social and environmental issues. I am currently studying food justice, environmental justice, and environmental education in the Environmental Studies Masterâs Program at the University of Oregon. My ultimate goal is to return to Fresno and support environmental justice work in my hometown.
Foundation Sponsor:
Barr Foundation
Host Organization:
Toxics Action Center
Mary Jones
Mary will be wrapping up her degree in Environmental Justice from the University of Michigan in spring of 2017. She is passionate about the dynamic intersection between the environment and social justice and is committed to community building through authentic partnership and collaboration. In her spare time she devours books and knits up a storm with her cat, Jellyby.
Foundation Sponsor:
Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program
Host Organization:
Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program
Ragini Kathail
Ragini Kathail is an experienced environmental health professional with an MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and a BA from Pomona College. She has spent a cumulative total of two and a half years working in India on issues around water, sanitation, and agriculture. She has additional experience in digital fundraising, email marketing, and supporter recruitment for non-profits. She currently lives in New York.
Foundation Sponsor:
New York Community Trust
Host Organization:
Natural Resources Defense Council
Reflection Entry:
Priscila Papias
My name is Priscila Papias, and I am originally from South East Los Angeles, California. I am completing my MS degree at the University of Michigan, where my focus is conservation ecology. I have a background in environmental history from the UC Berkeley, and am interested in community development, bilingual environmental education, and urban sustainability.
Foundation Sponsor:
Barr Foundation
Host Organization:
Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance
ValaRae Partee
ValaRae is a Project Engineer and Sustainability Consultant for Wilmot Inc. in Nashville, TN. She earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Georgia and Vanderbilt University, respectively. ValaRae is on a mission to help ensure a world with healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities, ecosystems, and economies. Because of her passion for people and the environment, she chose to blend her interests of engineering, policy, and advocacy together to help her clients develop thoughtful, impactful and sustainable solutions.
Foundation Sponsor:
New York Community Trust
Host Organization:
Earthjustice
Reflection Entry:
Carolina Prado
Carolina Prado is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental and womenâs studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research examines hazardous waste sites, air pollution and environmental stewardship of rivers in the Tijuana-San Diego region. She has been an active environmental justice advocate in the border region and participates in a food justice collective in Oakland. As a future action-oriented professor, Carolina envisions transforming the cross-border environment to be more healthy and just for communities on both sides of the border.
Foundation Sponsor:
11th Hour Project (Schmidt Family Foundation)
Host Organization:
Solutions Project
Frances Roberts-Gregory
Frances Roberts-Gregory is a Ph.D. candidate in Society and Environment at the University of California - Berkeley. She also teaches environmental racism and climate justice courses as an adjunct professor at Tulane University and Bard Early College New Orleans. Her autoethnographic research focuses on how women of color in Gulf Coast Louisiana advocate for climate justice while navigating contradictory relationships with energy and petrochemical industries. She earned a BA in Sociology and Anthropology, with concentrations in Spanish and Environmental Science, from Spelman College.
Foundation Sponsor:
Environmental Grantmakers Association
Host Organization:
Environmental Grantmakers Association
Reflection Entry: