Colette Pichon Battle is an American lawyer and

climate justice Climate justice is a type of environmental justice that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalized or otherwise vulnerable populations. Climate justice seeks to achieve an equitable distribution of both the burdens of clima ...

organizer. Her work focuses on creating spaces for frontline communities to gather and advance

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

strategies that help us steward the water, energy, and land. She is a TED speaker, a 2019

Obama Foundation The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president) ...

Fellow, and is the recipient of the 2023

Heinz Award The Heinz Awards are individual achievement honors given annually by the Heinz Foundations, Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards each year recognize outstanding individuals for their innovative contributions in three areas: the Arts, the Eco ...

for the Environment, the 2022 Catalyst Award from Rachel’s Network, and the 2022 William O. Douglas Award. Colette is the co-founder and Vision & Initiatives Partner for Taproot Earth and is a former corporate lawyer. Internationally, Colette has gained recognition for her outstanding use of the legal and judicial process to achieve environmental goals. After 17 years of work leading the development of programming focused on equitable climate resilience in the Gulf South by Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP), in 2022, she expanded her vision int
Taproot Earth
inspired by her learnings with GCCLP and movement partners across the South.

Life

Battle was raised in Bayou Liberty, Bonfouca, Louisiana. She attended

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

(class of 1997), from Slidell, majoring in

international studies International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

, and took a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree at

Southern University Law Center Southern University Law Center is a public law school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is part of the historically black Southern University System and was opened for instruction in September 1947. It was authorized by the Louisiana State Board o ...

in 2002. She was chosen as an Echoing Green Climate Fellow in 2015, was recognised as a White House Champion of Change for Climate Equity in 2016, and received an Honorary Doctorate from Kenyon College in 2018. She was recognized as an

Obama Fellow The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president), ...

in 2019, for her work with climate change-affected Black and Native communities. She received the title of Margaret Burroughs Community Fellow in 2021.

The Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy

Battle oversaw the legal services in

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

and disaster law and created advocacy campaigns for the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP). After the

2005 Atlantic hurricane season The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a record-breaking, devastating and deadly Atlantic hurricane season. It is the second-costliest hurricane season, just behind the 2017 season And 2024. It featured 28 tropical and subtropical storms, ...

, Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Inc. launched the GCCLP as a program. Residents in five states had to traverse legal and political procedures while dealing with tragedy and trauma, which had a long-term effect on their capacity to heal from the disaster and their human right to go home. Following the BP Oil Drilling Disaster, GCCLP added class action legal counsel to its work in 2011. In its first year, it recovered more than $1 million in claims that had previously been denied to claimants. As the organization's creator and co-executive director, Battle created programming with a focus on just disaster recovery, international migration, local economic growth, climate justice, and energy democracy. In 2022 the GCCLP became Taproot Earth.

External links

Twitter page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle, Colette Pichon People from Louisiana American women lawyers American lawyers American climate activists