Lisa Jackson’s Story: Protecting the Health and the Environment of the American People

Ed. note: This post is part of the Celebrating Black History Month series that highlights the contributions of African-Americans who are helping the President achieve his goal of winning the future.

I'm a proud native of New Orleans – I was raised in Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans’ Upper Ninth Ward.  My family's home was flooded during Hurricane Katrina and, like many of our neighbors, it was uninhabitable and had to be gutted. Still, on one of my recent trips back I talked to folks about plans to rebuild the house and others as part of a green, sustainable neighborhood. I’m proud to have grown up in and been shaped by such a resilient community.

After high school at Saint Mary's Dominican in New Orleans, I stayed to go to Tulane University (Roll Wave!)  and then got my master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton. My dream as a child and throughout school was to become a doctor because I had always wanted to help people when they got sick. But I came to realize that by protecting our environment I was approaching the same problem from a different angle – by making sure people didn’t get sick in the first place.

As the Administrator of the EPA, I oversee a staff of more than 18,000 employees working across the country with a single mission: to protect human health and the environment. I touch on everything from making sure the air we breathe and the water we drink is free from harmful toxins to assisting with response to environmental disasters.

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Fonte: White House