06.08.22 — Professor Shalanda Baker ’05 has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). A member of the Northeastern Law faculty, Baker has been on leave since President Biden tapped her to serve as deputy director for energy justice in that same department. In her work at DOE, she is helping to shape the Biden administration’s focus on environmental justice.
“I am so grateful to have Shalanda Baker confirmed to serve as Director of DOE’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in a statement released following Baker's June 7 confirmation. “Her efforts to advance President Biden’s Justice40 initiative have already revolutionized our Department’s work in underserved and overburdened communities across America. There is no more effective champion for building an equitable, just, clean energy economy than Shalanda. We are thrilled that she is willing to serve the American people and we are incredibly fortunate to have her in the DOE family.”
Baker is a former Air Force officer and co-founded and co-directed the law school’s Initiative for Energy Justice. In her book, Revolutionary Power: An Activist’s Guide to the Energy Transition, she argues that people of color, poor people and indigenous people must engage in the creation of the new energy system in order to upend the unequal power dynamics of the current system.
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The nation’s leader in experiential legal education since 1968, Northeastern University School of Law offers the longest-running, most extensive experience-based legal education program in the country. Northeastern guarantees its students unparalleled practical legal work experiences through its signature Cooperative Legal Education Program. More than 1,000 employers worldwide in a wide range of legal, government, nonprofit and business organizations participate in the program. With a focus on social justice and innovation, Northeastern University School of Law blends theory and practice, providing students with a unique set of skills and experiences to successfully practice law.
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