Meghan Elizabeth Kallman (born November 18, 1983) is an American politician, academic, and activist serving as a member of the

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...

from the 15th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on January 5, 2021.

Education

Kallman earned a Bachelor of Science degree from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, a Master of Arts from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and a PhD from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Kallman's scholarship focuses on development sociology,

environmental sociology Environmental sociology is the study of interactions between societies and their natural environment. The field emphasizes the social factors that influence environmental resource management and cause environmental issues, the processes by wh ...

, and

organizational sociology Organizational behavior or organisational behaviour (see spelling differences) is the "study of human behavior in organizational settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself".Moorhead, G., & ...

Career

Kallman began her career at

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, and then was a marketing manager for

Prize4Life Prize4Life is a non-profit organization dedicated to the discovery of treatments and a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The organization uses the inducement prize contest model. It was founded in 2007 by Avi Kremer, an Israeli studen ...

. From 2008 to 2011, she was the research director for Urban Innovation Analysis, a

501(c) organization A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...

. From 2014 to 2018, she was an instructor at the

Community College of Rhode Island The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is a public community college in Rhode Island. It is the only community college in the state and the largest community college in New England. The college's primary facility is located in Warwick, wit ...

. From 2017 to 2021, she served as a member of the Pawtucket City Council. She is an associate professor at the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

at the graduate School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, and an adjunct professor at

. In 2015, Kallman co-founded Conceivable Future, a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organization that advocates for

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

and

reproductive justice Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the righ ...

. Representing District 15, Kallman was elected to the

in November 2020 and assumed office on January 5, 2021. She is also vice chair of the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee. In 2021, the Women Legislators' Lobby awarded Kallman with the Pacesetter Award for her actions bringing federal funding back to the people she represents. In 2023, Kallman was awarded the Environmental Champion by Clean Water Action for her efforts towards environment and climate protection.

Bibliography (selected)

* Kallman, Meghan Elizabeth. 2020. ''The Death of Idealism: Development and Anti-Politics in the Peace Corps''. Columbia University Press. * Malin, Stephanie A., and Meghan Elizabeth Kallman. 2022. ''Building Something Better: Environmental Crises and the Promise of Community Change''. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. * Kallman, Meghan Elizabeth, and Terry Clark. 2016. ''The Third Sector: Community Organizations, NGOs, and Nonprofits''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kallman, Meghan Living people 1983 births American sociologists Smith College alumni University of Chicago alumni Brown University alumni Brown University faculty University of Massachusetts Boston faculty Democratic Party Rhode Island state senators Women state legislators in Rhode Island 21st-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly 21st-century American women politicians