About Heather McTeer Toney

Heather McTeer Toney

Vice President, Community Engagement

Work

Areas of expertise:

Environmental policy, environmental justice, advocacy, and community engagement

Heather works with a diverse range of stakeholders and constituency groups — such as mayors, faith-based organizations, labor and academia — to put people at the center of every climate solution.

Through the office of community engagement, she provides innovative, scalable and equitable community engagement strategies that demonstrate EDF’s core values.

Background

Elected at age 27, Heather served as the first African American, first female and youngest mayor of Greenville, Mississippi. Under her leadership, the city emerged from significant debt and focused on sustainable infrastructure repair.

In 2014, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Southeast Region, where she served until 2017. She led efforts to create and support local environmental justice initiatives, promote clean energy and enhance the quality of work life.

Prior to joining EDF, Heather served as the Senior Director to Moms Clean Air Force, an environmental advocacy group focused on policy initiatives to protect children from the dangers of air pollution.

Heather holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Spelman College in Atlanta and a law degree from the Tulane University School of Law.

Publications

Appearances

Techonomy: Health and Wealth of America

News outlets