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Achieving Environmental Justice in Wisconsin
Program Information:
What does it mean to achieve environmental justice in Wisconsin? We’ll discuss the basic principles of environmental justice, learn about some examples of this work in practice across the state, and discuss the challenges and how we can empower communities to reach identified goals.
Speaker Information:
Julie Majerus is Wisconsin’s first policy advisor whose position is dedicated solely to the work of environmental justice. As the Environmental Justice Policy Advisor to the Secretary’s Office, her work includes leading agency-wide initiatives and alignment in the agency’s policy development and enhanced community outreach and engagement.
Her experience includes grant administration, continuous improvement, and systems change to effect more equitable policies and practices. She previously served as a school administration consultant on the Title I Team at the Department of Public Instruction, and as the policy and legislative advisor for the child welfare division of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. Julie began her career as an assistant state public defender in Brown County, representing individuals in the criminal, juvenile, and child welfare systems.
Meleesa Johnson is currently the Executive Director of WI Greenfire. She received her undergraduate degree in December 2000 from UWGB’s Environmental Policy and Planning Program. While there she served as the diversity affair coordinator of the Student Government Association and worked to reestablish a campus daycare. A highlight of Meleesa’s academic career occurred when she was named a Morris K. Udall Congressional Scholar for Excellence in National Environmental Policy. She graduated summa cum laude, with a distinction in the major.
For two decades she worked in the world of solid waste management, first for Portage County and then for Marathon County. She has served on numerous boards for waste and recycling organizations and on several DNR study groups and technical advisory committees, including the PFAS External Advisory Committee. She also was a founding member of Wisconsin’s Green Fire’s Contaminants of Emerging Concern, a group that has spent the last four years focused on the PFAS issue.
Program Resources:
LWVWI Community Policy (formerly Urban Policy)
LWVWI Natural Resources Positions