Abre' Conner
Abre' Conner | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1987 (age 38–39) Lakeland, Florida, United States |
| Education | |
| Occupations |
|
| Organization(s) | Director of Environmental and Climate Justice, NAACP |
Abre' Leann Conner is an American attorney who currently works as the Director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Prior to this role she served as Directing Attorney for Health at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. She was named one of the Time Closers of 2026.
Biography
[edit]She was born and raised in Lakeland[1] and suffered from debilitating asthma in her youth.[2] She later discovered that a cluster of smokestacks she frequently passed by were phosphate plants, and her belief that those contributed to her asthma drove her to focus on civil rights during her university studies at the University of Florida and then on environmental law during her law school at American University.[3][4] She also served as policy head of the National Black Law Students Association during her time in law school.[4]
She worked at the White House Office of Presidential Personnel as an associate and also worked at the United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, before serving as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. She went on to take a role as Directing Attorney for Health at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley in 2021, where she oversaw a team of 20 staffers.[5]
She has become most notable in her current role as the Director of the NAACP's Center for Environmental and Climate Justice,[6] where she focuses on stopping the environmental impact of AI data centers,[7][8] as well as leading broader environmental justice initiatives of the NAACP[9] such as the Jackson, Mississippi, water crisis.[10]
She also worked as a professor in the Environmental Policy and Management Program at the University of California, Davis,[11] and has testified in front of the House Homeland Security Committee.[12]
Outside of her work, she sits on the American Bar Association Board of Governors[13] and the Earthjustice Board of Trustees,[14] and formerly sat on the Environmental Protection Agency Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions Federal Advisory Council (HBCU-MSI)[15] and as Assembly Speaker of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.[16]
She was named as one of the Time Closers, a list of 18 Black leaders, in 2026.[17] She was also named as one of the 40 under 40 by the National Bar Association and the University of Florida Alumni Association.[18]
References
[edit]- ↑ Writer, Staff. "Student Focus". The Ledger. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Time spotlights Lakeland native among prominent Black leaders". The Ledger. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
- ↑ "NAACP Lawyer Links Data Center Fight to Civil Rights Legacy". May 20, 2026. Archived from the original on May 20, 2026. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- 1 2 Kutz, Jessica (October 26, 2022). "NAACP climate director explains why now is the time to fight environmental racism". The 19th. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Welcoming Abre' Conner as the Law Foundation's Health Directing Attorney". Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. January 7, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Chair Chat: Oday Salim and Abre' Conner". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ Conner, Abre’ (March 13, 2026). "How the NAACP Is Stopping Dirty Data". Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ Medium, Seattle (May 22, 2026). "Elon Musk Expands AI Plant Accused Of Polluting Black Areas". The Seattle Medium. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "NAACP Environmental Climate Justice Lead Abre' Conner Named to TIME's Prestigious 2026 The Closers List | NAACP". naacp.org. January 27, 2026. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ Richard-Craven, Maya (March 3, 2023). "At the NAACP, Racial Justice Means Climate Justice". Word In Black. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "NAACP's Abre Conner discusses pathways to environmental justice | CWRU Newsroom | Case Western Reserve University". case.edu. July 30, 2025. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ AOL (January 27, 2026). "Abre' Conner Is Helping Communities Defend Their Environmental Rights - AOL". AOL.com. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Board of Governors Bios". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Earthjustice Appoints Abre' Conner and Rashad Morris to Board of Trustees". Earthjustice. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ US EPA, OA (September 17, 2024). "EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan Announces Members of Inaugural HBCU-MSI Federal Advisory Council". www.epa.gov. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Abre' Conner to Speak as Part of the "Critical AI Literacy in Practice and Community" Speaker Series | Libraries". library.oregonstate.edu. January 6, 2026. Retrieved May 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Abre' Conner". Time. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
- ↑ "Abre Conner - University of Florida Alumni Association". connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu. Retrieved May 24, 2026.