The 2025 Dr. Espanola Jackson Energy Justice Award Nominees
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William Casey
Role: Workforce Development Consultant for the NAACP – MEAB
William “Bill” Casey has dedicated over 30 years to serving underserved and overburdened communities through his expertise in workforce development. Throughout his career, Bill has advocated tirelessly for employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups, with a particular focus on low-income communities and reentering citizens. His impactful work includes partnering with the Industry Training Department at Lincoln Technical Institute and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to establish vocational training programs for incarcerated and reentering individuals. As his career progressed, Bill’s priorities expanded to include environmental initiatives, leading him to consult with various clean energy advocates in New Jersey. Today, as a clean energy champion, Bill’s mission is to address inequality and build equity through clean and renewable energy workforce development opportunities for underserved communities, combining his longstanding commitment to social justice with the growing potential of the clean economy.
Daphany Rose Sanchez
Role: Executive Director for Kinetic Communities Consulting
LinkedIn
Daphany Rose Sanchez is an experienced community organizer and an expert in climate and housing. Born and raised in New York City public housing, Daphany witnessed and lived through the intersections of housing discrimination, climate divestment, and economic injustice. Daphany’s experience moved her to fight for climate resiliency in the communities she grew up in, organizing neighborhoods across every borough in the city while working alongside renewable energy companies to provide people with the tools and resources needed to reduce their energy bills and keep their homes protected from natural disasters. She graduated from NYU Tandon School of Engineering and holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from the New School.
Chief Henry Red Cloud
Role: Founder & Executive Director for Red Cloud Renewable
Chief Henry is a direct descendant of Chief Mahpiya Luta and serves as Executive Director of Red Cloud Renewable. A respected Lakota leader, Henry founded Red Cloud Renewable in 2017 and has trained over 1,100 Indigenous students in solar installation, weatherization, and sustainable building. Henry and his team have installed solar heating systems in over 1,200 reservation homes that would otherwise struggle financially against the bitter South Dakota winters. Henry’s programs train indigenous workers from many tribes as well as the Lakota, empowering Native communities through energy sovereignty and cultural resilience. Henry’s work is focused on building skills for indigenous workers as well as providing clean energy for Native people. As he says “this work isn’t just about energy. It’s about sovereignty. It’s about healing. And it’s about coming back to our original instructions: to take care of one another, to live in balance, and to make a good path for the generations to come.”
There is no industry on Pine Ridge–it is in the poorest county in the U.S. with very high unemployment . Henry’s work in solar, weatherization and sustainable building helps many Indigenous families on many reservations to avoid the use of costly fossil fuel and wood. Red Cloud Renewable has trained over 1000 solar technicians. By providing valuable job skills and fostering career opportunities, they help Native Americans support their families and contribute to their communities. Simultaneously, their efforts align with broader environmental goals, advancing sustainability and promoting a greener planet. This dual impact reflects their commitment to both economic empowerment and environmental stewardship, resonating with the traditional Native American values of harmony with nature. Please visit the Facebook page for updates on training programs and impacts.
Eddie Ahn
Role: Executive Director for Brightline Defense
LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, BlueSky
Eddie Ahn has been an environmental justice attorney and nonprofit worker for over fifteen years, advocating for both rooftop solar and an equitable clean energy economy. He began his nonprofit career working with Dr. Espanola Jackson, building up her call for local hiring and solar incentives specifically for low-income homes. While working as the executive director of Brightline Defense, a San Francisco–based environmental justice nonprofit, he was inducted into the State of California’s Clean Energy Hall of Fame for his work in equity and clean energy. In addition to his nonprofit work, he has served as president of the San Francisco Commission on the Environment as well as a commissioner on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Carlos Alberto Velazquez Lopez
Role: Program Director, Puerto Rico Resilience for Interstate Renewable Energy Council
Facebook, LinkedIn
Carlos Alberto Velázquez López is Program Director, Puerto Rico at IREC, where he oversees Puerto Rico programs including the Puerto Rican Solar Business Accelerator, a position he also held at The Solar Foundation prior to the merger of the two organizations in 2021. An environmental manager by education, Carlos Alberto has been able to bring an interdisciplinary perspective to problem analysis and solutions. After completing two tours in the United States Marine Corps, he was honorably discharged in 2006 and quickly transitioned to serving Puerto Rico by advising environmental and political organizations on federal, environmental, and energy matters. Instrumental in the early coalitions that advocated for net metering and interconnection of distributed generation in Puerto Rico, he eventually became the managing partner for a local energy and photovoltaic design and installation company. After Hurricanes Irma and Maria, he led an exemplary team of engineers, financial experts, and community economic development professionals to put together a conceptual design for a community-based renewable energy microgrid. That initiative became the basis for an ongoing energy cooperative model that is in development in rural areas of Puerto Rico.
Tarshire Battle
Role: Executive Director for Roots 2Empower
LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook
Tarshire Battle is a passionate advocate for social justice, economic empowerment, and environmental resilience. She is dedicated to uplifting underserved communities across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, working to create pathways for equity, opportunity, and lasting change. Her understanding of structural hurdles and the need for comprehensive, community-driven solutions grew as she worked with the New England Center for Homeless Veterans and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. These experiences inspired her to establish Roots2Empower, a community-based organization that promotes systemic change through business and financial education, community gardening projects, and policy lobbying. Recognizing that no single organization can solve these injustices alone, she works with environmental and social justice organizations to pool resources and expertise, furthering climate action, food sovereignty, and community reconciliation in ways that encourage long-term structural change.
Tarshire also wrote Rooted in Resilience: A Pathway Towards Global Social Change, in which she discusses her experiences working in her home nation and around the world, notably in Africa. She is currently working on her PhD in Environmental Science. Her study examines the social and psychological consequences of climate change in post-war Liberia, with an emphasis on mental health, displacement, and community cohesion. Tarshire Battle continues to combat injustice, build resilience, and effect change through grassroots organizing, research, and storytelling, both in her own neighborhood and throughout the world.
Andrea Pierce
Role: Policy Director for the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
MEJC Instagram, Anishinaabek Caucus of MI Dem Party Instagram, Anishinaabek Caucus Facebook, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition Facebook
Andrea Pierce is a Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB) citizen.
Andrea is lead organizer of Idle No More Michigan, an Indigenous Grassroots Movement, where she began her fight for Native Rights and to SHUT DOWN LINE 5/NO TUNNEL. Andrea started as a grassroots activist where she partnered with Detroit Light Brigade and helped to create the Ann Arbor Light Brigade. She has organized many protests and rallies to SHUT DOWN LINE 5/NO TUNNEL across Michigan. She was a co-organizer of the Pipe Out Paddle Up Flotilla for 8 years.
She is the Chair and co-founder of the Anishinaabek Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party(MDP), the first & only caucus in Michigan that represents the Native American people and the issues that the Anishinaabek face. She is Precinct Delegate in Ypsilanti Michigan, where she lives, and was elected to the State Central Committee of the MDP. She was also elected as a DNC Bernie Delegate in the 2020 elections, she was a Harris/Walz delegate at the 2024 DNC Convention, held in August. She is one of four citizens that discovered a 10 thousand year old Cultural Sacred Site at the Straits of Mackinac.
Jacquelyn Badejo
Role: Community Developer for Watts Clean Air and Energy Committee
LinkedIn
Jacquelyn Badejo is a South-Central Los Angeles/Watts native with southern and Nigerian roots. Ms. Badejo has served as a social and environmental activist, City of Los Angeles elected official for seven years, and a California State Assembly (AD64) Women’s Commissioner for four years. She is committed to organizational and environmental issues on a global scale. She is also well-versed in community organizing, advocacy, nonprofit industry, economic and human capital development and program and policy impact strategizing. Ms. Badejo has provided a unique scope of transformative leadership and innovative practices and technologies that will help improve overall quality of life. To her, the slogan, “Let’s make the world great together,” encompasses principles of integrity, transparency and accountability. With a passion to empower people and create sustainable environments, Badejo looks forward to serving as a newly appointed commissioner and elected President for the Los Angeles Mayor’s Climate Emergency Mobilization Commission and California Assembly District 65 Environmental and Water Safety Commissioner to advocate for a just transition to green industry for all amid climate change. In July 2025, Ms. Badejo was elected as the Environmental Representative for the Watts Neighborhood Council and Chair of the board. As a certified Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Specialist and Project Manager, Badejo worked with the LA County Internal Service Department to assist in the rollout of EVSE Infrastructure.
As the CEO of Watts Clean Air and Energy Committee, the organization was recently presented with the prestigious Air Quality Management District (AQMD) 2023 Clean Air Award for “Leadership in Air Quality” among other recognition through the last 10 years from Congress, Assembly, Senate, and the City of Los Angeles from Mayor Garcetti and Council District 15. As the Executive Director of WATTSKANDA (501c3), Badejo exemplifies the mission of “advancing communities together”- (ACT). The programming stands for Water, Air, Transportation, Telecommunications & Sustainability, Konnecting Agriculture and Natural resources in a Demonstration of Alliance. The “K” in connecting represents the kinetic energy of a community to move any initiative forward. Embarking on innovative technology and pathways for ecological, economical and food security solutions, WATTSKANDA partners with local and global partners to establish curriculums and opportunities to build the Black Silk Road. Consequently, as the CEO of Badejo Brand and Badejo Industries, new generation technological, transportation and agricultural advances will lead the way for the future development of the world to preserve the Earth and all of its inhabitants as a global supplier.
Kynnee Wallace
Role: Founder of Jireh Workforce Foundation
LinkedIn
For over two decades, Kynnee Wallace has been an architect of equity, building bridges between marginalized communities and economic opportunity through the lens of environmental and workforce justice. Her leadership of the 548 Foundation’s transformative $30 million clean energy training initiative and her founding of JIREH Workforce Solutions in 2025 represent the convergence of her life’s work: ensuring that Black, Brown, underserved, and justice-involved communities are not just participants in the clean energy transition, but its leaders and primary beneficiaries. As Executive Director of the 548 Foundation from 2023 to 2025, Kynnee scaled operations across seven Illinois locations, building coalitions with government agencies, community organizations, and industry leaders to create sustainable career pathways. Under her leadership, the program achieved national recognition through features in the Chicago Sun-Times and Energy News Network highlighting the 548 Foundation’s work, while maintaining an 85% job placement rate and serving over 300 participants annually. Following this success, she founded JIREH Workforce Solutions in 2025, expanding her mission of “training people for careers that build a better planet” with a focus on taking individuals “from potential to purpose.”
Through JIREH Workforce Solutions, with core values of empowerment, community, excellence, faith, innovation, transformation, and connection, Kynnee continues to build bridges between employers and talent from historically excluded communities. Currently pursuing her MBA with a concentration in Human Resources and authoring the upcoming book “Humanship: The Heart of Work and the Work of the Heart,” Kynnee continues to expand her impact through both the 548 Foundation legacy and JIREH Workforce Foundation. A Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) and Professional in Human Resources (PHR), she remains committed to ensuring that workforce development serves as a vehicle for community empowerment and environmental healing.
Brionté McCorkle
Role: Executive Director for the Georgia Conservation Voters
LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Website
Brionté believes in a healthier, more vibrant future for all people and the planet. She is dedicated to teaching people how to self-organize and build strategic partnerships to protect the environment, advance racial equity, and grow civic engagement. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Georgia Conservation Voters, where she works to secure a more just and sustainable future by advancing climate and environmental justice policies, electing pro-environment candidates, and holding elected officials accountable for their actions and votes.
Brionté earned a B.S. in Public Policy from Georgia State University and minored in Spanish. In 2014, she led the Georgia Sierra Club’s involvement in the successful effort to expand MARTA to Clayton County. Most recently, Brionté was a plaintiff in a successful and historic federal Voting Rights Act lawsuit (Rose vs. Raffensperger) challenging the at-large election method of Georgia’s Public Service Commissioners.