On October 27th, Clean and Healthy New York (CHNY) honored Hester Street Project Manager Priya Mulgaonkar with the inaugural Emerging Leader in Environmental Health & Justice Award at their 15th Anniversary Celebration. The award recognized Priya as “a passionate climate & environmental justice advocate with a demonstrated history of working for equity, social justice, and sustainability.”
Since joining Hester Street, Priya has supported numerous projects related to environmental health and justice, including THE POINT Community Development Corporation’s work on emergency preparedness and extreme heat and Choose Healthy Life’s efforts around more equitable public health. Along with her work at Hester Street, Priya serves on the Local Land Use and Government Advisory Group informing the implementation of New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. She is also the Board Secretary for BK Rot, New York City’s first community-supported, bike-powered, BIPOC-led, fossil fuel-free food waste hauling and composting service.
Priya previously worked as the Resiliency Planner for the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, a citywide network of 11 grassroots organizations serving low-income communities and communities of color on the frontlines of the climate crisis. She represented NYC-EJA and its members in coalition efforts that led to the passing of the historic NYC Waste Equity Law in 2018 and the NYS Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019. She previously organized a solar campaign for Environment America and supported post-Superstorm Sandy research efforts at Rebuild By Design. In 2020, Priya was named a 2020 GreenBiz 30 under 30.
Congratulations from everyone at Hester Street on your well-deserved recognition!
