Mayor Kim Janey appointed Reverend Mariama White-Hammond as chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space for the City of Boston. In this role, White-Hammond will be responsible for leading the cabinet in achieving its mission of enhancing environmental justice and quality of life in Boston by protecting air, water, climate and land resources, as well as preserving and improving the integrity of Boston’s architectural and historic resources. White Hammond will assume the role previously held by Chris Cook, who has been named the next executive director of The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.
White-Hammond has extensive background in embedding equity and environmental justice into Boston’s communities. She is the founding pastor of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester, a multi-racial, multi-class community. She is a fellow with the Green Justice Coalition, which brings together eight social/environmental justice groups from around Massachusetts. White-Hammond is a public speaker throughout the nation and was a leader for both the 2017 Boston Women’s March and Boston People’s Climate Mobilization. She has received numerous awards, including the Barr Fellowship, the Celtics Heroes Among Us, The Roxbury Founders Day Award and the Boston NAACP Image award. She was selected as one of the Grist 50 Fixers for 2019 and Sojourners 11 Women Shaping the Church.
“Reverend Mariama White-Hammond is an advocate, facilitator and pastor who has extensive experience in creating a more just, inclusive and sustainable Boston,” Janey said. “I am confident that Rev. White-Hammond is the right person to accelerate our efforts around environmental justice, while expanding our green jobs pipeline and helping us achieve our goal of carbon neutrality, all of which are critical elements of our recovery and renewal agenda.”
The cabinet post includes the Environment Department and the Parks and Recreation Department. As chief, White-Hammond will oversee policy and programs on energy, climate change, sustainability, building safety, historic preservation and open space, including Climate Ready Boston, the building energy reporting & disclosure ordinance, rental registry and Greenovate Boston, the city’s community outreach initiative on sustainability.
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