![Heather McTeer Toney Heather McTeer Toney](/sites/default/files/experts/Heather%20Toney%20headshot%20287x377.jpg)
Heather McTeer Toney
Vice President, Community Engagement
Work
Areas of expertise:
Environmental policy, environmental justice, advocacy, and community engagement
Description
Heather works with a diverse range of stakeholders and constituency groups — such as mayors, faith-based organizations, labor and academia — to put people at the center of every climate solution.
Through the office of community engagement, she provides innovative, scalable and equitable community engagement strategies that demonstrate EDF’s core values.
Background
Elected at age 27, Heather served as the first African American, first female and youngest mayor of Greenville, Mississippi. Under her leadership, the city emerged from significant debt and focused on sustainable infrastructure repair.
In 2014, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Southeast Region, where she served until 2017. She led efforts to create and support local environmental justice initiatives, promote clean energy and enhance the quality of work life.
Prior to joining EDF, Heather served as the Senior Director to Moms Clean Air Force, an environmental advocacy group focused on policy initiatives to protect children from the dangers of air pollution.
Heather holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Spelman College in Atlanta and a law degree from the Tulane University School of Law.
Publications
Appearances
Techonomy: Health and Wealth of America
News outlets
- Washington Post: After one year in office, what has Biden done about the four crises he pledged to address?
January 20, 2022 - MSNBC: Environmental Conditions Plaguing Communities of Color
September 17, 2019 - New York Times: Black Women Are Leaders in the Climate Movement
July 25, 2019 - DAME magazine: U.S. Climate Action Depends on Democracy
January 19, 2021 - Democracy Now!: Activists Decry Trump’s EPA Pick, Coal Lobbyist Andrew Wheeler
January 17, 2019 - Washington Post: Struggling With a Brown Water Problem, Greenville, Miss., Is Wondering When Obama Is Going to Deliver the Help He Promised
August 23, 2009 - CNN: Greenville Mayor Heather Hudson (Toney) Speaks on Campell Brown
February 26, 2009
Press materials
-
EPA’s New Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Will Help All of Us Move Toward a Clean Energy Future
February 14, 2023 -
EPA Continues Federal Progress on Environmental Justice with New Department of Environmental Justice
September 24, 2022 -
Castor, Blunt Rochester, Torres Air Quality Monitoring Bill is a Step Toward Helping Communities Tackle Longstanding Inequities
February 18, 2022 -
Environmental Protection Agency to Step Up Enforcement and Monitoring of Pollution in Overburdened Communities
January 28, 2022