Catherine Coleman Flowers

EXCLUSIVE
  • Internationally Recognized Advocate for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation
  • Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice
  • Author of 'Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret'
  • One of TIME's "100 Most Influential People"

Internationally recognized environmental activist, author, and MacArthur “genius” grant recipient Catherine Coleman Flowers has dedicated her life’s work to advocating for environmental justice. Founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ), Flowers has spent her career promoting equal access to clean water, air, sanitation, and soil to reduce health and economic disparities in marginalized, rural communities. Her leadership and fervor in fighting for solutions to these issues led her to one of her most notable appointments yet — Vice Chair of the Biden Administration’s inaugural White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Flowers is the author of the acclaimed and award-winning book Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret, in which she shares her inspiring story of advocacy, from childhood to environmental justice champion. Whether addressing equal access to water, the effects of climate change on different communities, or the effect of history on today's inequities, Flowers' lens of leadership in environmental justice and climate change engages and inspires attendees with tangible solutions and ways to take action.

Flowers serves as Rural Development Manager for Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), is a Board Member for the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Climate Reality Project and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Flowers is also Co-Chair of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Commission on Accelerating Climate Action and Practitioner in Residence at Duke University. She has written powerful pieces for the New York Review of Books, The Guardian, The New York Times, and Frontline Magazine, and has been profiled by 60 Minutes. Thought-provoking and informative, Flowers’ talks have left lasting impressions at the American Institute of Architects, the Triple Bottom Line Americas Conference, the Bloomberg Green Festival, the Global Philanthropy Forum, Georgetown University, Wheaton University, and more.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • Washington State University-Pullman
  • St. Olaf College
  • Huntingdon College
  • Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate
  • Georgetown University
  • Transylvania University
  • University of Melbourne
  • Wheaton College
  • St. John the Divine
  • Duke University
Rave Reviews About Catherine Coleman Flowers
WOW - Catherine was phenomenal! We had 704 registrants and 366 attendees throughout the live program and I have received many emails from folks asking for a recording of the program. The feedback I have been receiving is truly wonderful - everyone is feeling inspired! The audience was engaged during the Q&A and we had over 40 questions and comments submitted.

Catherine Coleman Flowers: Justice in Public Health: Environmental Justice, the next frontier of Social Justice | U.of Minnesota School of Public Health - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Catherine Coleman Flowers
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Environmental Justice: The Next Frontier of Social Justice

CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS unearths America’s dirty secret in her talks about environmental justice, touching on one of the least discussed forms of inequality – equal access to water and sanitation. As Catherine shares, these issues are often “out of sight, out of mind” for most of the United States ...

CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS unearths America’s dirty secret in her talks about environmental justice, touching on one of the least discussed forms of inequality – equal access to water and sanitation. As Catherine shares, these issues are often “out of sight, out of mind” for most of the United States, but they need our attention. Flowers draws audiences in with her in-depth knowledge at the intersection of environmental issues and systemic race, class, and geographic prejudice.  

History’s Effect on Today’s Environmental Challenges

We are dealing with a number of environmental challenges today, from sanitation inequality to climate change. CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS explains the timeline of historic challenges that have created the environmental disparities and issues that continue today, and what we can do individually and as ...

We are dealing with a number of environmental challenges today, from sanitation inequality to climate change. CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS explains the timeline of historic challenges that have created the environmental disparities and issues that continue today, and what we can do individually and as country to change these inequities.  

Climate Change: Where do we go from here?

A member of the Board of Directors for the Climate Reality Project, CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS takes audiences beyond the broader implications of the climate crisis, discussing concrete examples of how environmental issues are already impacting communities across the country. Flowers leaves listeners ...

A member of the Board of Directors for the Climate Reality Project, CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS takes audiences beyond the broader implications of the climate crisis, discussing concrete examples of how environmental issues are already impacting communities across the country. Flowers leaves listeners with modern-day tangible solutions as well as ways to take action to address today’s current environmental challenges.

Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret

CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS shares her inspiring story of advocacy, from childhood to environmental justice champion. She discusses sanitation and its correlation with systemic class, racial, and geographic prejudice that affects people across the United States.    ...

CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS shares her inspiring story of advocacy, from childhood to environmental justice champion. She discusses sanitation and its correlation with systemic class, racial, and geographic prejudice that affects people across the United States.   

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Speaker News

Catherine Coleman Flowers is a highly sought-out leader speaking on energy industry disruption, civil infrastructure, and environmental policy

Revered environmental activist and author CATHERINE COLEMAN FLOWERS is frequently requested to speak on energy industry disruption, civil infrastructure, and environmental policy. Recently, Flowers has spoken at Columbia University, the University of Massachusetts, and many news outlets about the intersections between policy, infrastructure, and the private sector in furthering ecological stewardship. Flowers has joined the board RMI Energy to continue making an impact, saying, “I am a disrupter. I’m there to change things. Because if we’re going to do the same thing the same old way, then I need to be spending my time somewhere else.”

Watch Catherine Coleman Flowers speak at the Aspen Institute >>

Watch Catherine Coleman Flowers speak at TEDxFoggyBottom >>

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Books by Catherine Coleman Flowers
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Biography

Catherine Coleman Flowers is an internationally recognized environmental activist, MacArthur “genius” grant recipient, and author. She has dedicated her life’s work to advocating for environmental justice, primarily equal access to clean water and functional sanitation for communities across the United States.

Founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ), Flowers has spent her career promoting equal access to clean water, air, sanitation and soil to reduce health and economic disparities in marginalized, rural communities.

Flowers sits on the Board of Directors for the Climate Reality Project, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and RMI, as well as serving as a Practitioner in Residence position at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. In 2021, her leadership and fervor in fighting for solutions to these issues led her to one of her most notable appointments yet — Vice Chair of the Biden Administration’s inaugural White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. In 2023, she was recognized as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the world and was featured on Forbes’ 50 Over 50 list.

As the author of Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret, Flowers shares her inspiring story of advocacy, from childhood to environmental justice champion. In the book, she discusses sanitation and its correlation with systemic class, racial, and geographic prejudice that affects people across the United States. She and her work have been profiled by CBS’s 60 Minutes, The New York TimesThe Washington Post, The Guardian, PBS Newshour, and more.

Learn more at www.catherinecolemanflowers.com.