Join Alabama Gulf Coast EJ Empowerment summit

Dr. Jalonne L. White-Newsome joined the Biden-Harris Administration in June 2022 and is serving as the first Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Under her leadership, the Office of Environmental Justice is working hard to deliver on President Biden’s ambitious environmental justice agenda, including implementing the new Environmental Justice Executive Order, advancing the Justice40 Initiative, the first-ever government-wide EJ Scorecard, the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, and elevating environmental justice work across the federal government and beyond through the White House Campaign for Environmental Justice.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Dr. White-Newsome has tackled environmental challenges from a wide range of positions and perspectives, including in the grassroots environmental justice movement, environmental philanthropy, state government, private industry, and academia. Dr. White-Newsome earned a Ph.D. in environmental health sciences from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Southern Methodist University, a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University, and a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

Before joining the White House, Dr. White-Newsome founded and led Empowering a Green Environment and Economy, LLC (EGE2), a strategic consulting firm that focused on transforming communities by using people-centered solutions to combat climate change, improve public health, pursue environmental justice, and advance racial equity. She also served as the first Director of Federal Policy for WE ACT for Environmental Justice, managing their federal policy office in Washington, D.C. Dr. White-Newsome’s early environmental justice advocacy and research has focused on air pollution, climate-driven extreme heat and flooding, and improving the health of low-income, communities of color. She is a proud wife and mother of her daughters, Arielle and Jeannelyn.

Our keynote for the 2024 ALGC EJ Empowerment Summit is Dr. Homer Wilkes, the current Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. An incredible public servant, Dr. Wilkes has worked with USDA for more than 41 years heavily contributing to engineering, natural resource, and watershed projects, as well as forestry and working lands. His leadership as the Director of the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Restoration Division, where he was responsible for the restoration of the coastal ecosystem after the BP oil spill of 2010, has prepared him well for this role. Dr. Wilkes’ confirmation is also historic, as he will be the first African American to hold the position of Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA. I look forward to working alongside him as we continue to work to increase climate resilience and advance climate-smart practices in agriculture and forestry.

Veronica P. McBeth serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Prior to starting in the Office of the Assistant Secretary, she was appointed as the Senior Advisor of the Federal Transit Administration in June 2022. There, she reported directly to the Administrator and managed several FTA initiatives, such as transit-oriented development, climate and sustainability, equity and infrastructure.

McBeth combines her background in public policy, environmental law, planning, public administration, and community engagement to establish transportation systems with economic, social, and environmental benefits. She has worked on projects that facilitate equity and move beyond considering only benefits and burdens. As an expert in environmental policy and law, she connects environmental laws to policy issues associated with environmental justice, air quality, climate change, and sustainability as they relate to transportation. 

The Reverend Michael Malcom is the Executive Director of Alabama Interfaith Power and Light and a licensed and ordained United Church of Christ Minister. Rev Malcom is the former Senior Pastor of Rush Memorial Congregational UCC in Atlanta, GA. He is the founder of The People’s Justice Council which is a 501(c)3 non-profit focusing on environmental justice. Rev Malcom serves as the Environmental Justice Minister for the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ. He is a board member for the Southeast Climate and Energy Network.

Rev Malcom’s academic journey began at Beulah Heights University where he graduated in May 2008 with an undergraduate in Biblical Education and Leadership. He was accepted to and began attending The Interdenominational Theological Center where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree in 2011. To help him in the role of a pastor he completed five units of Clinical Pastoral Education at The Atlanta VA Medical Center and AnMed Health Hospital in Anderson, SC. In May of 2016, Rev Malcom graduated from the Terry School of Business MBA program at the University of Georgia. In October of 2017, he completed a post master’s human resource management course at Cornell University. In 2019 he completed the Convergence Leader Project with the Center for Progressive Renewal and the Just Energy Academy with Partnership for Southern Equity.

He considers himself an impassioned environmental justice advocate, fighting against environmental racism and injustice. He's heard, believes, and evangelizes the message of environmental justice. Rev Malcom does this through education and advocacy from a faith-based perspective. He sees environmental justice as the moral obligation to love your neighbor and the solution to the climate crisis. Rev Malcom says, "There can be no environmentalism without environmental justice. If you help the people, you'll heal the planet."