National Council for Environmental Health & Equity

The National Council for Environmental Health & Equity, also known as the EH Council, protects the public’s health by coordinating and leveraging our collective power to advance health equity and elevate the value of environmental health.

About the EH Council

The EH Council was established in 2023 following the merger of the former National Environmental Heath Partnership Council and Environmental Health & Equity Collaborative. We have representatives from national environmental and public health associations, the nonprofit sector, academia, community-based organizations and others affiliated with environmental or public health organizations.

Want more information about our environmental health partnerships? Please contact Olubukolami David.

Learn more about the EH Council:

Core Values and Norms

Our core values and norms underpin everything we do and are foundational to our identity and actions.

Core Values

Environmental Justice and Structural and Systems Change: We strive to operationalize antiracism, equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility and fairness by challenging racist and other forms of oppressive and marginalizing structures, systems and policies and prioritizing long-term, equitable impact.
Credibility: We bring subject-matter expertise and evidence-based technical excellence to the work, emphasizing the importance of empathy and lived experience.
Collaboration: We are a diverse group of environmental health experts working with partners and audiences across a variety of sectors and experiences. We bring unique perspectives and strengths to our interdisciplinary partnerships.
Commitment: We are passionate about our mission and leveraging our shared voice to advance environmental health.

Norms

How we work together:
We are committed to transparency, openness, respect and empathy in our interactions. Through these operating principles, we create a culture of trust and collaboration.

Who we work with:
We strive to work with a diversity of organizations and agencies – including those that represent federal agencies, local health departments, non-profits, and community-based organizations, academia, and others – and to increase diversity and representation of groups who have been historically underrepresented and disproportionately affected by environmental health issues.

Objectives

The EH Council have prioritized four interrelated objectives to guide their work together for the next few years:

Raise public and decision-maker awareness of the value and need for the practice of environmental health;
Ensure investments to address environmental justice are reaching those most impacted by environmental racism and historically excluded from decision-making;
Respond to emerging environmental health challenges with clear and science-based messaging; and
Maintain and strengthen the collaborative relationship with CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and develop and expand engagement with other federal agencies to advance environmental health priorities.

Members

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Kate Huffling
Executive Director

Cara Cook
Director of Programs

American Lung Association
Katherine Pruitt
National Senior Director, Policy

American Public Health Association
Kate Robb
Deputy Director, Center for Public Health Policy

Olubukolami (Mimi) David
Policy Analyst – Environmental Health, Center for Public Health Policy

American Public Health Association Environment Section
Natalie Sampson
APHA Environment Section Chair

Association for Environmental Health Academic Programs
Chuck Treser
Interim Executive Director

Association of Public Health Laboratories
Julianne Nassif
Director, Environmental Health

Jennifer Liebreich
Senior Specialist, Environmental Laboratories

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Abraham Kulungara
Senior Director, Environmental Health

Children’s Environmental Health Network
Nsedu Obot Witherspoon
Executive Director

Kristie Trousdale
Deputy Director

Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
Dhara Shah
Senior Director, Programs

Environmental Defense Fund
Tom Neltner
Chemicals Policy Director

Environmental Law Institute
Tobie Bernstein
Senior Attorney; Director, Indoor Environments and Green Buildings Program

Health & Environmental Funders Network
Ansje Miller
Executive Director

Independent EH Council Members
Leyla McCurdy
Environmental Health Consultant

Suzanne Condon
Environmental Health Consultant

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Megan Latshaw
Assistant Scientist

National Association of County & City Health Officials
Jennifer Li
Senior Advisor, Programs

Chelsea Gridley-Smith
Director, Environmental Health

National Center for Healthy Housing
Amanda Reddy
Executive Director

Sarah Goodwin
Policy Analyst

National Environmental Education Foundation
Christy Haas-Howard
Program Director, Health

National Environmental Health Association
Doug Farquhar
Government Affairs Director

Jesse Bliss
Director, Program and Partnership Development

National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council
Leslie Mitchell
Executive Director

National Wildlife Federation
Adrienne Hollis
Vice President for Environmental Justice, Health and Community Revitalization

Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units
Maida Galvez
Region 2 Director
Professor, Preventive Medicine, and Pediatrics, The Mount Sinai Hospital

Laura Anderko
Associate Professor, Robert & Kathleen Scanlon Endowed Chair in Values Based Health Care, Georgetown University

Trust for America’s Health
Kevin McIntyre
Associate Government Relations Manager

Advancing Environmental Justice through Technical Assistance

The EH Council, with support from CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, supports five environmental justice grantees through the Advancing Environmental Justice through Technical Assistance Mini-Grants Program.

Resources

Former Environmental Health and Equity Collaborative Resources

Achieving Environmental Health Equity: The Need and Opportunities for Public Health Action (PDF)

Achieving Environmental Health Equity: Opportunities for Public Health Action - 2 pages (PDF)

Achieving Environmental Health Equity: Opportunities for Public Health Action - 1 page (PDF)

Inclusion and Diversity for Equitable Advancement in Environmental Health Award

Three attendees at APHA2022 posing with an award At APHA's 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo, the collaborative presented the 2022 IDEA EH award to Backyard Basecamp, a Baltimore nonprofit.