Jameka Hodnett ’14

Jameka is the recipient of the 2023 Department of Energy Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Award for Advocacy.

According to the Announcement from the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Initiative, “Jameka Hodnett is a passionate and dedicated advocate for climate justice. Through her work as the Chief Program Officer with Chisholm Legacy Project, she furthers climate policies that are clearing a pathway for a just energy transition. As a Local Climate Action Policy fellow with Elemental Excelerator and the African American Mayors Association, Hodnett is ensuring that benefits of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Justice40 Initiative reach communities that have been historically underinvested in. Previously, Hodnett served in leadership roles with non-profit organizations such as Dream.org, 350.org, League of Conservation Voters, and the American Civil Liberties Union. ”

More from the C3E Initiative website:

Jameka Hodnett is a passionate and dedicated advocate for climate justice. She combines her skills of campaigning and lobbying to fight for policies that reduce carbon pollution, create green jobs, and jump-start the transition toward a clean energy economy. Currently, Hodnett is working as the Chief Program Officer with Chisholm Legacy Project, where she furthers climate policies that are clearing a pathway for a just transition. She has also been working to ensure that the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Justice40 reach historically underinvested-in communities as a Local Climate Action Policy Fellow with Elemental Excelerator and the African American Mayors Association.

Previously, Hodnett served as National Director of Campaigns at Dream.org, where she led state and federal IRA implementation. She also served as Executive Director of Climate Equity with A/B Partners, where she led a multimillion-dollar climate disinformation war room campaign for the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund. She has also served as Deputy National Organizing Director at ACLU, where she led the organizing team to mobilize ACLU’s four million members to pass legislation; Head of Field Organizing & Campaigns at 350.org, where she worked with the organization’s 150 local groups to pressure legislators to phase out fossil fuels at the federal and state level; Deputy Director of Civic Engagement at the League of Conservation Voters where she restored access to the vote for over 1.4 million people; and Director of Programs at DC Solar United Neighborhoods, where she implemented DC’s Solar for All Program that aims to bring the benefits of solar energy to 100,000 low-to-moderate-income families in the District of Columbia. Hodnett has a JD from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and a BA in International Affairs and Climate Policy from Trinity University.

Want to follow in her footsteps? Learn more about our Global Affairs major and Environmental Justice minor!