Miller-Travis Biography
Vernice Miller-Travis is the Executive Director of Groundwork USA. Groundwork USA leads a network of non profit organizations called Groundwork Trusts, which work to help communities impacted by brownfields and other derelict land issues improve their environment, economy and overall quality of life. Engaging young people in the revitalization of their own community is a major focus. Vernice Miller-Travis brings a wealth of experience to the Environmental Movement. As a former Program Officer of the Ford Foundation, she launched their Environmental Justice portfolio in the United States. She served as the Director of the Environmental Justice Initiative of the Natural Resources Defense Counsel from 1993 until 1999. She served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council from 1996 until 2001, chairing its Waste and Facility Siting subcommittee. Ms. Miller-Travis is a leading figure in the national environmental justice movement, and a co-founder of West Harlem Environmental Action in New York City. Recently, Ms. Miller-Travis served as a member of the All Appropriate Inquiry Federal Advisory Committee to the U.S. EPA where she helped to draft the language for the new federal law -- The Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Redevelopment Act, passed by Congress in 2002.
Vernice Miller-Travis is a leading proponent of community-driven Brownfields revitalization. She has written and lectured widely on the link between Brownfields clean-up and regeneration, community revitalization and sustainable community development.