WE ACT for Environmental Justice’s co-founder and executive director Peggy Shepard has successfully combined grassroots organizing, advocacy, and environmental health research to become a national leader in advancing environmental justice in urban communities. She chairs the New York City Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and she was the first co-chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the first female chair of the EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Her work has received broad recognition, including the Jane Jacobs Medal from the Rockefeller Foundation for Lifetime Achievement, 10th Annual Heinz Award for the Environment, William K. Reilly Award for Environmental Leadership, and Damu Smith Power of One Award.