Brenda Coley has been Queering the environmental sector since joining Milwaukee Water Commons in 2019. Coley is a Wisconsin based activist whose work has been inspired with the understanding there is a profound social justice connection between People and Planet. She has served in various positions in the non-profit and academic sector. She brings a long-standing commitment to social justice, and community engagement practices. Her background includes being a non-profit executive, public health ,and behavioral research with expertise in leadership development, and organizational capacity building. Before working in the environmental movement Brenda Coley was sole proprietor of Brenda Coley & Ass. assisting local and national organizations in building the cultural competence to work with marginalized populations around health issues, leadership and social justice. She has received several awards regarding her work in Environmental Justice including the Midwest Environmental Advocates Bill Iwen EJ award and an African American Environmental Pioneer Award from Near By Nature. She currently consults with the Midwest Environmental Justice Leadership Team and serves on the board of Wisconsin River Alliance and the Advisory Council of Wisconsin Sea Grant. Coley is committed to exploring the influence of one's own culture and understanding ways in which groups of people are treated in society, using that knowledge to develop strategies to effectively engage multi-racial groups of people in important environmental concerns.
