Miller-Travis, Vernice
Vernice Miller-Travis
Vernice Miller-Travis is a highly respected, pioneering environmental justice (E.J.) leader. For over 35 years, Miller-Travis has worked on civil rights and environmental policy issues. She is the executive vice president for environmental and social justice at the Portland-based Metropolitan Group. Miller-Travis is also the Vice Chair for the board of directors of Clean Water Action and co-founder of We Act for Environmental Justice. Miller-Travis was a delegate to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. As a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, she launched their first-ever Environmental Justice grantmaking portfolio focused on growing the grassroots E.J. movement in the U.S., Brazil, South Asia, and South Africa.
“Never give up. You will face many challenges along the way, but stay resilient and never let others undermine your determination.” - Vernice Miller-Travis, 2023
Miller-Travis, V. (2023, November). Understanding the urgency of addressing cumulative environmental impacts to advance environmental justice. In APHA 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo. APHA.
Ali, M., Engelman-Lado, M., & Miller Travis, V. (2020). Call for Special Issue Papers: The EPA at 50 and Environmental Justice: Past, Present, and Future: Deadline for Manuscript Submission: December 31, 2020. Environmental Justice, 13(5), 145-145.
Schang, S., Barlow, C., Evans, D., Miller-Travis, V., Levine, S., Houck, O., … & Lee, C. (2006). Recovering from Katrina and Rita: Environmental Governance Lessons Learned and Applied. Envtl. L. Rep. News & Analysis, 36, 10139.
Miller-Travis, V. (2000). Social transformation through environmental justice. Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well Being of Earth and Humans. D. Hessel and RR Ruether, eds, 559-572.
Neal, D. E., Famira, V. E., & Miller-Travis, V. (2010). Now Is the Time: Environmental Injustice in the U.S. and Recommendations for Eliminating Disparities. Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.
Vernice Miller-Travis was born on February 18, 1959, at Harlem Hospital in New York City. Her father, Harold Miller, an immigrant from the Bahamas, initially worked as a clerk but later earned a promotion to office supervisor. Her mother, Helen Lyles, dedicated her career to nursing.
Miller-Travis grew up in a time of heightened political activism and significant social change. She fondly recalls walking with her mother along Harlem’s Lennox Avenue, where influential civil rights leaders often addressed enthusiastic crowds. This early exposure to activism left a lasting impression on her.
At six, following her parents’ divorce, Miller-Travis primarily lived with her father and spent summers in the Bahamas. In the early 1970s, she relocated to West Bronx to live with her mother. While in middle school, she first witnessed environmental injustice when her Bronx neighborhood was ravaged by fires, displacing numerous residents.
She attended Arturo Toscanini Junior High School and became involved in the A Better Chance (ABC) educational support program. This program later awarded her a scholarship to attend the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx.
Upon entering Riverdale, Miller-Travis experienced a stark contrast in socio-economic backgrounds. Each day, as she commuted by bus and train to school, she could not help but notice the limousines dropping off younger students at Fieldston School, which served as a poignant reminder of her family’s limited financial means.
After graduating high school, she earned a scholarship to attend Barnard College, an Ivy League women’s college affiliated with Columbia University. However, a deeply racist environment marred her time at Barnard. She and her fellow African-American students were discouraged from pursuing professional careers. One particularly disturbing incident occurred during student orientation when white students were advised to contact the police if they accidentally found themselves in Harlem instead of Morningside Heights.
Despite the challenges she faced, Miller-Travis persevered and graduated with a degree in political science from Barnard in 1982. In 1992, Miller-Travis earned a Revson Fellowship, which allowed her to return to Columbia University to pursue graduate studies in architecture and urban planning. During this time, she took an interdepartmental course that equipped her with the essential tools, skills, and knowledge to address environmental justice issues.
While pursuing her graduate degree, Miller-Travis also served as the vice-chair of New York’s Community Planning Board 9, a volunteer civic organization responsible for reviewing land use, zoning, and development matters in the West Harlem and Morningside Heights neighborhoods.
After completing her undergraduate degree, Miller-Travis worked as an administrative assistant for two years. However, this period proved challenging as she encountered biases from people who assumed her job as a Black administrative assistant correlated with limited intellect.
In 1986, her career took a significant turn when she received a life-changing opportunity from her friend, Dr. Ben Chavis (now Chavis-Muhammad). She became a research assistant at the Union Theological Seminary, collaborating with Charles Lee on groundbreaking research on the racial demographics surrounding hazardous waste sites. Their findings were published in the 1987 report “Toxic Waste and Race in the United States.” The report helped ignite the American environmental justice movement.
This transformative experience led Miller-Travis to view her own Harlem neighborhood through the lens of environmental injustice. She began dedicating her time to working alongside community activists Peggy Shepard and Chuck Sutton, eventually co-founding West Harlem Environmental Action/WeACT for Environmental Justice in 1988. Her dedication to this cause led her to serve as co-chair of the board of WE ACT for six years, maintaining her involvement on the board of directors into the early 2000s.
In 1987, Miller-Travis started working for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a progressive law firm committed to defending civil rights, freedom of speech, and voter rights. She was the Special Projects & Events Coordinator, the Capitol Campaign Director, and ultimately the Director of Development when she left the organization in 1992.
In 1991, Miller-Travis attended the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. As a summit delegate, she was a committee member and helped write the historic “Principles of Environmental Justice.” Following the leadership summit, she was a Research Assistant and Research director and organized the transcripts and proceedings.
In 1992, Miller-Travis simultaneously was advancing her career in environmental justice and pursuing her master’s degree. She was the New York coordinator of the Citizens Network, a branch of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) dedicated to uniting advocates and activists nationwide to communicate their concerns to those attending the Earth Summit.
Upon earning her graduate degree, Miller-Travis became the first director of environmental justice for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 1993. During this time, she advised the Clinton Administration on drafting the 1994 Executive Order on Environmental Justice (EO12898). She was also present in the Oval Office for its signing. From 1997 to 1999, Miller-Travis was a Kellogg National Leadership Program fellow.
Additionally, she served as a National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) member, guiding the US EPA in creating its Brownfields Redevelopment program and Superfund Redevelopment Initiative. Miller-Travis helped draft the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Redevelopment Act, passed by Congress in 2001. Miller-Travis was a US EPA NEJAC member from 1997 to 2001 and again from 2009 to present.
Feeling a lack of diversity in her role at NRDC despite the predominance of people of color in the environmental justice movement, Miller-Travis left the organization in 1999. She established the Partnership for Sustainable Brownfields Redevelopment, dedicated to revitalizing and transforming brownfield sites into community facilities, such as parks.
In 2000, influenced by a foundation vice president, she accepted a position as a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation. Miller-Travis’ role involved funding advocacy groups focused on the local and international expansion of environmental justice movements. Throughout her tenure, she traveled to South Africa, Brazil, Nepal, and India, contributing to the global reach of environmental justice initiatives.
In 2003, Miller-Travis left the Ford Foundation and launched her consulting firm, Miller-Travis & Associates. In 2005, she began working for Groundwork USA as Executive Director. In 2007, she was Groundwork USA’s Consultant for Strategic Development and Outreach.
In 2008, Miller-Travis was the Executive Director of the Environmental Support Center in Washington, DC. She returned to full-time consultancy with Miller-Travis & Associates in 2009. The firm’s work addresses under-resourced communities and advocates for improved sustainability, environmental design, and policy. In 2009, Miller-Travis received the Damu Smith Environmental Health Achievement Award from the American Public Health Association.
In 2010, Miller-Travis joined Skeo Solutions as a Community Planning and Revitalization Group Senior Associate. In this role, she worked with federal and local governments to design and revitalize brownfields and Superfund sites.
Since November 2019, Miller-Travis has served as the Executive Vice President for Environmental and Social Justice at Metropolitan Group, a Social Change and Strategic Communications Agency. She oversees environmental, social, and climate justice programs in this role.
Miller-Travis has received numerous accolades throughout her remarkable career, including the Charles H. Revson Fellowship, Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship, and the Robert Bullard Environmental Justice Award.
Beyond her professional endeavors, she finds joy in singing, cooking for friends and family, painting, traveling (pre-COVID-19), and engaging in political debates.
Miller-Travis was fortunate to have inspiring role models and mentors who profoundly influenced her journey. Among them were her mother, grandmother, and aunt, who shaped her perspective. Her grandmother encouraged her to apply her “practical knowledge” as a scientist to gain a deep understanding of the challenges facing predominantly Black communities. Meanwhile, her mother, a dedicated nurse for over four decades, instilled in her a strong commitment to the issues Miller-Travis now champions.
In addition to her family, Miller-Travis benefited from the guidance of formal mentors. One such mentor was Dana Alston from Harlem, an environmental justice trailblazer. Alston’s work revolutionized the movement and underscored the importance of communities speaking for themselves.
Dr. Jean Sindab, affiliated with the National Council of Churches in New York, was another influential mentor. He sowed the seeds of the necessity for global alliances among similarly situated communities of color worldwide. Dr. Sindab’s leadership of the Environmental Justice delegation at the U.N. Meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 laid the foundation for much of the advocacy we witness today. His vision had a profound impact on Miller-Travis’s advocacy journey.
Miller-Travis imparts valuable advice for those on a journey of advocacy and change: persevere and stay resilient. She notes that in the path toward progress, challenges are inevitable. Embrace resilience and never waver in the face of adversity. Do not allow others to undermine your determination.
Stay connected to your roots: As you venture into university spaces, non-governmental organizations, or government offices, always remain grounded in your origins. The most effective public servants and advocates maintain a deep connection to their roots and identity.
Lastly, champion underserved communities: Dedicate yourself to ensuring that underserved communities are not overlooked or neglected. Continue working tirelessly until justice prevails for the very people you are committed to serving.
Brown, Stacy M. (2022, October 6). Vernice Miller-Travis, a crusader who continues the struggle to weed out environmental racism. Retrieved from https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2022/10/06/vernice-miller-travis-a-crusad….
Clean Water Action. 2023. Vernice Miller-Travis. Retrieved August 22, 2023 from https://cleanwater.org/about/people/vernice-miller-travis.
Encyclopedia.com. 2019. Vernice Miller-Travis. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books…
Survey and interviews conducted by Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative staff. 2022-2023. Yale University-School of the Environment. New Haven, Connecticut.
Vernice Miller-Travis. n.d. Home [LinkedIn Page]. LinkedIn. Retrieved August 22, 2023 from https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernice-miller-travis-778b27230/.
Vernice Miller-Travis Professional Resume. N.d. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/PW/PW02/20150722/103704/HHRG-114-PW02-Bi…