Conservation Law Foundation Names Veronica Eady Director of its Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice Program

CONTACT:
Karen Wood, CLF, (617) 850-1722

Leading Environmental Justice Advocate Returns to New England

BOSTON, MA  August 5, 2013 — Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has named Veronica Eady, a national leader in environmental and civil rights law and policy, vice president and director of its Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice Program. The announcement was made today by CLF president, John Kassel.

Eady brings more than two decades of experience in environmental justice and civil rights to CLF’s Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice program, which works to ensure that New England’s communities, both urban and rural, are thriving, healthy places with clean air and water, safe and accessible transportation choices, as well as recreation, fresh food and green spaces.

Kassel welcomed Eady to the CLF team, noting that she was responsible for preparing Massachusetts’s first Environmental Justice Policy in 2000, in addition to enforcing environmental laws, advocating for environmentally burdened communities, and advancing progressive environmental and civil rights policy since the late 1980’s.

“Veronica is a leading voice on environmental justice nationally and internationally, with deep ties to New England,” Kassel said. “Her keen sensitivity to the challenges facing our region’s low income communities and communities of color will be a boon to our advocacy on behalf of those that bear a disproportionate share of environmental harm. We are thrilled to have Veronica focused on this critical work that is at the very heart of our mission to protect New England’s environment for all people.”

Eady said, “I am delighted to return to New England at a time when there is both great urgency and opportunity to make a difference in creating sustainable, resilient cities and towns. CLF has made great strides in developing strong community relationships that help deliver the value of its legal and policy expertise right to the people who need it most. I’m very excited about joining such a passionate and results-driven team to continue to advance this important work.”

Since 2009, Eady has been a policy consultant on environmental justice issues for such organizations as Miller-Travis & Associates, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice. Prior to joining New York Lawyers for the Public Interest in 2005, Eady spent many years in Massachusetts, serving as director of Environmental Justice and Brownfields at the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and also as executive director of Alternatives for Community and Environment in Roxbury, MA. She served for six years as the assistant regional counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco and Denver. Eady, a graduate in journalism from the University of Southern California, is the author of multiple publications on environmental justice.

Eady has taught at Tufts University, Stanford University and Fordham University School of Law. She earned her law degree from Hastings College at the University of California.

Eady will assume her new position in September and will be based in CLF’s Boston office.

Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) protects New England’s environment for the benefit of all people. Using the law, science and the market, CLF creates solutions that conserve our natural resources, build healthy communities, and sustain a vibrant economy region-wide. Founded in 1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont