2024 Bradford Washburn Award Celebration:

Dr. Robert D. Bullard, often called the “father of environmental justice,” is distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy and founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University. He is also cofounder of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium and the National Black Environmental Justice Network. He received his PhD degree from Iowa State University and is the author of 18 books. His latest is The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities (2012).

In 2008, Newsweek named him one of “13 Environmental Leaders of the Century.” In 2019, Apolitical named him one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy, and Climate One presented him the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication. In 2020, WebMD gave him its Health Heroes Trailblazer Award and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) honored him with its Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021, he was appointed by President Biden to serve on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and in 2022, he was awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Johannesburg. That same year he received the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2023, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, California Arts and Sciences, and he received Harvard Law School Environmental Law Society’s Horizon Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to environmental law and policy, and the John E. Gould Medal from the American Geographical Society. And in 2024, he received TIME's Earth Award.

Maria Belén Power grew up in Nicaragua in the aftermath of the revolution. She currently serves as the inaugural Undersecretary of Environmental Justice and Equity at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs with the Healey-Driscoll Administration. She previously served the associate executive director of GreenRoots, a community-based organization dedicated to improving and enhancing the urban environment and public health in Chelsea, East Boston, and surrounding communities. Power cofounded GreenRoots and oversaw the environmental justice campaigns of the organization. She was appointed by President Biden to serve on the newly established White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. She holds an undergraduate degree in sociology from Augsburg University, a master of public policy from Tufts University, and a certificate in non-profit management and leadership from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice. Power sits on the board of the ACLU Massachusetts. She lives in Chelsea, MA with her husband Fidel and two daughters, Maya Gabriela and Ana Victoria.

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune serves as Groundwork USA’s Chief Officer of Climate Resilience and Land Use, leading the work of the Climate, Land, and Water team. Cate is a people-centered climate adaptation planner, community organizer, educator, parent, and cautious optimist.

Raised in an environmental justice neighborhood, she is committed to furthering a future where all people live in clean, thriving communities. She received a BA in biology from Reed College, a Master of Science Education from CUNY Lehman, and a Master of City planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  She is the author of the recently released book Climate Action for Busy People, a guide to enacting change at the local level,  and was named a 2024 Grist Fixer.

Kevin Powell is one of the most celebrated political, cultural, literary, and hip-hop voices in America. He is a prolific writer and a 2024 GRAMMY-nominated poet; Kevin is a heavily sought-after public speaker who has lectured in all 50 states and on five continents. A native son of Jersey City, New Jersey, the human and civil rights activist has been engaged with nearly every democratic movement of the latter 20th and early 21st centuries, either as a servant-leader, a behind-the-scenes advocate, or in a leadership position with fellow writers, artists, and change agents. In 2008 and 2010, Kevin ran for the United States Congress in his adopted hometown of Brooklyn, New York.

A vegan, two-time New York City Marathon runner, bicyclist, skateboarder, student of yoga, avid hiker, and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Kevin is a proud and long-time resident of Brooklyn, New York, and happily married to Evangeline Lawson, photographer, filmmaker, writer, and his equal partner in every way.