EPA kicks off Environmental Justice Academy’s second year

The second class of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Justice (EJ) Academy recently kicked off the nine-month leadership development program with a special induction ceremony in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
The EJ Academy began in September 2015 and teaches participants skills that allow them to identify and address environmental challenges in their communities. This year’s class includes 17 participants from Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
 
“Participants should feel honored to have been selected through a highly competitive process,” EPA Acting Regional Administrator for the Southeast Anne Heard said at the induction program. “The EJ Academy will equip Fellows with skills to take back and become champions for environmental justice. There are high expectations for all participants to make a visible difference in their communities upon completion of the program.”
 
At the completion of the nine-month program, which will see participants meeting on a monthly basis, they will have developed skills in leveraging resources for long-term change, consensus-building processes that will allow for better collaboration and increasing capacity to address environmental and public health issues. Participants will also emerge with a strong grasp on issues related to environmental justice and environmental regulation.