Baker, Shalanda
Shalanda Baker
Shalanda Baker is the Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity and Secretarial Advisor on Equity at the U.S. Department of Energy. Before her appointment, Baker worked at Northeastern University as Professor of Law, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs. She was also the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Initiative for Energy Justice. The organization provides frontline climate change communities with technical law and policy support. Baker served as an Air Force officer before her honorable discharge according to the then existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and became a vocal advocate for repealing the policy. She earned a B.S. in Political Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a J.D. from Northeastern University, and L.L.M. from the University of Wisconsin.
Baker, Shalanda. H. 2021. Revolutionary power: An activist’s field guide to the energy transition. Island Press.
Flatt, Victor & Baker, S.H. & Farber, D. & Glicksman, R. & Kaswan, A. & Klass, A. & Klein, C. & Mintz, J. & Rohlf, D. & Sokol, K. & Tomain, J. & Zellmer, S. & Krakoff, S. & Outka, U. & Owen, D. & Camacho, A. & Wiseman, H. (2020). Climate, Energy, Justice: The Policy Path to a Just Transition for an Energy-Hungry America. SSRN Electronic Journal. 10.2139/ssrn.3766500.
Sotolongo, M., Kuhl, L., & Baker, Shalanda. H. 2021. Using environmental justice to inform disaster recovery: Vulnerability and electricity restoration in Puerto Rico. Science Direct, 122(August), 59-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.04.004
Baker, Shalanda. H. 2020. Fighting for a Just Transition. NACLA Report on the Americas, 52(2), 144-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714839.2020.1768732
Shalanda H. Baker was born in 1976 in Austin, Texas. She attended the United States Airforce Academy where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science in 1998. While at the academy, Baker was a star Rugby player and even played in the 1998 Ruby World Cup. In 2005 she received her Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law. She also earned her Master of Law from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2012.
Baker served as an Air Force officer after graduating from the Air Force Academy in 1998. She served during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” era and pursued an honorable discharge in 2001 after her personal situation put her at odds with the policy. She went on to advocate for the repeal of the policy and wrote numerous articles on the issue.
After leaving the Air Force, Baker enrolled at Northeastern University to pursue her juris doctorate. While at Northeastern University, she worked with several local legal services organizations, supporting youth, education, justice, and diversity issues.
In 2008, Following her graduation from Northeastern, Baker worked for a law firm as a project finance and energy lawyer and was transferred to Tokyo. Energy has always been a passion for Baker, and she worked on financing large energy projects. From Tokyo, Baker moved to Oaxaca, Mexico.
In 210, Baker moved to the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she completed a Master of Laws degree. Baker worked as an associate professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law from 2012 – 2014 and at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 2014-2017. She joined Northeastern University in 2017 as Professor of Law, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs. Baker has researched equity issues related to the global energy transition away from fossil fuels. She writes extensiviely about renewably energy, energy gustice, energy policies, and renewable energy development. She has published over a dozen articles, book chapters, and essays.
Baker is Co-Founder and former Co-Director of the Initiative for Energy Justice. The organization provides frontline communities with policy and technical law support. In her book, Revolutionary Power: An Activist’s Guide to the Energy Transition, Baker argues for energy policy to be the next area to advance civil rights.
Baker is now the Senate-confirmed Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the United States Department of Energy. She serves as the Secretarial Advisor on Equity to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Baker is the architect of the equity and justice framework for the US Department of Energy, including Justice40, and she is building the team to ensure that energy justice endures through the clean energy transition.
Bakers nomination to the Department of Energy is a major career highlight. The process took almost a year. First, President Joe Biden nominated Baker to the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity Director at the United States Department of Energy on April 22, 2021. On June 8, 2021, the Senate Energy Committee held a hear about her nomination and favorably reported her nomination on July 22 to the Senate Floor. However, the Senate failed to take a vote and her nomination expired at the end of 2021. The nomination was sent back to President Biden on January 3, 2022 who immediately re-nominated her on January 4. The Senate Energy Committee again favorably reported her nomination on March 8, 2022 and the Senate voted to confirm her on June 7, 2022.
Holly, B. (n.d.). Q&A with Shalanda Baker, co-founder of the Initiative for Energy Justice. Blog. Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://blog.arcadia.com/energy-justice-shalanda-baker
Shalanda H. Baker. Energy.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2022, from https://www.energy.gov/person/shalanda-h-baker