Tamara Toles

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Tamara Toles
Toles O'Laughlin in 2020
Born
Brooklyn
Alma materVermont Law School
City University of New York
Employer
  • Environmental Grantmakers Association

Tamara Toles O'Laughlin is an environmental activist, climate strategist, and the CEO and president of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.

Early life and education

Toles O'Laughlin is from Brooklyn, New York.[1] She is an environmental activist focused on people, planet and resources. .[2]

Toles O'Laughlin was an undergraduate student at the City University of New York, where she majored in political science. She attended the Vermont Law School for her graduate studies, where she graduated with a Juris Doctor[3] and a Masters Degree in Environmental Law and Policy.

Career

As a student at City College (CUNY), she worked as an intern at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Environmental Protection Agency. During graduate school at Vermont Law School she interned at the Center on Race, Poverty and Environment, and did a summer law fellowship at the Natural Resources Defense Council.[4]

After graduating from Vermont Law with a Juris Doctor and Master in Environmental Law and Policy, Toles O’Laughlin worked for the Maryland Energy Administration and District Department of Energy and Environment in Washington, DC. She served as the Senior Law Clerk to the Honorable Douglas A. Brady, and the Senior Sitting Judge Julio A. Brady at the Superior Court of the US Virgin Islands on St. Croix.

In 2014, Toles O’Laughlin (then Toles) was appointed to the Executive Board of EcoWomen.[5][6] She closed a six year term at the DC chapter of EcoWomen in late 2019. During her tenure, she held several positions, including vice president of professional development, where she produced the organization's signature salon and monthly educational forum EcoHour. She closed her term as the Board Chair during the final two years.

She served on the board of the Maryland Climate Coalition.[7]

Toles O'Laughlin is the former Chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments: Air and Climate Public Advisory Committee, where she advocated for responsive public resources. She recently concluded her term as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Women's Voices for the Earth, an organization based in Missoula, Montana, where she supported science based advocacy for women. She is a senior advisor and former co-chair of the Green Leadership Trust.

Toles O'Laughlin was appointed as Executive Director of the Maryland Environmental Health Network in February 2017,[8] where she worked to eliminate environmental threats to human health.[9] She created the Baltimore City Climate Resolution, which upholds the Paris Agreement and calls for 100% renewable energy use in Baltimore by 2050.[10][11] It encourages the development of wind technology and disincentivizes incineration.[10] The resolution was passed in June 2017.[10] In 2018 she was awarded the Vermont Law School Social Justice Scholars Alumni Award.[9]

In Maryland, she co-founded the Healthy Green Maryland Amendment Initiative to define healthy communities and provide multi-generational protections to defend against disproportionate climate impacts in the Maryland constitution. She also created the Baltimore City Climate Resolution, which passed in the City Council unanimously in response to the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords.

During her time leading the Maryland Environmental Health Network, she created an annual environmental justice digest intended to provide statewide policy analysis through the lenses of equity, access, and justice. She also developed an educational webinar series on human health and environmental impacts on issues such as community solar, transportation, and natural gas infrastructure, which featured the experiences of impacted community members.

In 2019, O'Laughlin joined 350.org as the North America Director making her the first African-American woman to hold this position in an environment or climate organization.[12] A signature of Toles O'Laughlin's work is the identification of systemic challenges and development of resources to rebuild with vulnerable populations.[12][13]

In 2021, Toles O’Laughlin joined the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) as its CEO and President. EGA represents over 200 foundations globally, holding approximately $200 billion in assets and giving more than $1.9 billion annually to environmental causes. In 2021, Toles O’Laughlin launched Climate Critical, a global support intervention for workers in environment and climate. Climate Critical is a non profit community space for creative practice, led by movement practitioners to develop strategy and tactics, and enable radical as an essential investment for climate survival.

Toles O'Laughlin has written for Rolling Stone,[14] The Nation,[15] Yes! magazine[16] and Grist.[17] She is a contributor to Politico‘s Long Game Forum[18] on issues[19] of environment, equity, energy access and climate justice.[20]

References

  1. ^ "Bio". Tamara Toles O'Laughlin. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  2. ^ "Tamara Toles O'Laughlin: The Climate Catastrophe Should Be Paid For By The People Who Sponsored It". Adi Magazine.
  3. ^ "How to Celebrate Earth Day Every Day | Vermont Law School". www.vermontlaw.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  4. ^ "Loquitur—the Alumni Magazine for Vermont Law School. Winter 2020 Issue". Issuu. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  5. ^ "Don't miss paddle-boarding with DC EcoWomen August 1!". Mad Mimi. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  6. ^ "Tamara Toles O'Laughlin's schedule for PGM ONE 2019 Summit". pgmonesummit2019.sched.com. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  7. ^ "Steering Committee | Maryland Climate Coalition". marylandclimatecoalition.org. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  8. ^ "Baltimore Fishbowl | Greenlaurel: Why Baltimore City Council's Unanimous Climate Resolution is Important -". Baltimore Fishbowl. 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  9. ^ a b "Tamara Toles O'Laughlin receives Social Justice Scholars Alumni Award from Vermont Law". Maryland Philanthropy Network. 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  10. ^ a b c "Baltimore City Climate Resolution Passes Unanimously!". Sierra Club. 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  11. ^ "Tamara Toles O'Laughlin". She Saves The Planet. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  12. ^ a b "350.org Announces Tamara Toles O'Laughlin as North America Director". 350.org. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  13. ^ "Here are the environmental justice stories to watch in 2020". Grist. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  14. ^ O'Laughlin, Elana Sulakshana,Tamara Toles; Sulakshana, Elana; O'Laughlin, Tamara Toles (2020-04-20). "Op-Ed: Big Insurance Is Climate's Quiet Killer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-10-11.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Tamara Toles O'Laughlin". The Nation. 2020-08-21. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  16. ^ "Tamara Toles O'Laughlin". Yes! Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  17. ^ "What does the fossil fuel industry have to do with police brutality?". Grist. 2020-09-09. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  18. ^ "Breathing While Black: Structural Racism, Coronavirus and Pollution Are Part of the Same Story". www.greentechmedia.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  19. ^ "If you care about the planet, you must dismantle white supremacy". Grist. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  20. ^ "A Matter of Degrees: Trump's Fossil Fuel Bailout on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
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