Jalonne White-Newsome has joined the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) as an associate professor specializing in environmental justice. 

White-Newsome, who started her career in chemical engineering, holds a doctorate in environmental health sciences from the U-M School of Public Health. She first tackled environmental challenges and injustice in private industry, and then through a range of perspectives, including the grassroots environmental justice movement, environmental philanthropy, state government, public policy advocacy and academia. 

“I am excited to join the SEAS family and build on the deep legacy of environmental justice and sustainability scholarship. It will be a wonderful journey to work with some dynamic colleagues and amazing students that have so much to offer,” says White-Newsome. 

From 2022 to 2025, White-Newsome served as the first Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer, leading the White House's Office of Environmental Justice that was charged with advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s environmental justice initiatives. 

“It was a deep honor to support President Biden and Vice President Harris in advancing the most ambitious environmental justice initiatives at the federal level….and do the work I love. I learned a great deal about policy and practice, and I look forward to sharing my experience and adding value where I can to this community,” says White-Newsome.

Since leaving the White House, she has been a sought-after public speaker and has relaunched her consulting firm, Empowering a Green Environment and Economy (EGE2). The firm aims to transform communities through people-centered solutions, integrating environmental justice, equity, efficiency and sustainability into their operations, practice and policies to address problems across sectors and in multiple areas of need to ignite change. The team focuses on transforming communities to combat climate change, improve public health, pursue environmental justice and advance racial equity. 

White-Newsome, with many years of experience tackling environmental challenges spanning multiple sectors, disciplines, and geographies, has focused on improving the health of communities of color and communities with lower incomes. Environmental justice advocacy has been an integral part of White-Newsome’s career in relation to air pollution, extreme heat and flooding. 

She has published widely on health and environmental justice and served as the first director of federal policy for WE ACT for Environmental Justice, managing their federal policy office. She also provided leadership for the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change, a national coalition of environmental justice leaders. She was a senior program officer at The Kresge Foundation, where she created the Climate Resilience and Equitable Water Systems Initiative, the first national grantmaking initiative focused on the intersection of climate change and water inequity. 

White-Newsome has been recognized by Grist and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters for her environmental justice advocacy, and, in 2022, she was named the Crain's Detroit Most Notable Leader in Sustainability. She has been a professional lecturer at The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health for over a decade.

As an associate professor, White-Newsome will be bringing all these experiences into the classroom at SEAS.

“For my entire career, I have been blessed to work with and mentor students of all ages, backgrounds and levels of experience, across this country. I am looking forward to building those same relationships with students on this campus—learning together, inspiring change where we can, and using our scholarship and service to leave our world a little better than how we found it.”