SUNY Plattsburgh Welcomes Award-Winning Environmental Speaker Nov. 12

Activist for environmental justice Majora Carter will speak to students and faculty as part of the Presidents’ Speaker Series Monday, Nov. 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 202, Yokum Lecture Hall. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Carter, a nationally renowned urban environment activist, has been featured in publications including ELLE Magazine, Essence Magazine, Newsweek and The New York Times.

Winner of a MacArthur Fellowship ‘genius grant’ from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2005, Carter has earned dozens of awards and honors for her environmental work. In 2007, Lt. Gov. David Patterson awarded her with the New York State Women of Excellence Award, and in 2008, the U.N. Temple of Understanding presented her with the Hollister Award. This year, Goldman Sachs named Carter as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.

Carter graduated with a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1984 before earning her M.F.A. from New York University in 1997. After hearing about New York City’s plan to build a waste facility in her South Bronx neighborhood, Carter was motivated to leave her career as an artist and spoken-word performer to protect her childhood home. She founded Sustainable South Bronx, a nonprofit justice solutions corporation in 2001.

With a $1.25 million federal grant, Carter and Sustainable South Bronx’s first project was the South Bronx Greenway, which includes 1.5 miles of waterfront greenway, 8.5 miles of new green streets, numerous bike paths and about 12 acres of open space on the waterfront.

After stepping down as executive director of Sustainable South Bronx in 2008, Carter formed the Majora Carter Group, an economic consulting and planning firm. The group is currently working within the cities of New Orleans, Detroit and the small coastal towns of northeastern North Carolina.