Olivia Smith
Community Outreach Associate for EPA Region 5
Olivia Smith serves as the Community Outreach Associate (COA) for EPN’s Region 5 pro bono capacity-building technical assistance program. In Region 5, Olivia seeks to cultivate connections between community organizations in the Great Lakes Region, experienced EPA alumni, and other environmental justice allies towards the support of the self-determined goals of Environmental Justice communities across the region.
Prior to working with EPN, Olivia worked in project and technical assistance roles with the Rockefeller Foundation’s US Food Initiative and with the Red Cross Climate Center.
Olivia has an interdisciplinary master’s degree in climate studies from Columbia University’s Climate School and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore College, where she also engaged in community organizing on campus. During graduate school, she served as a teaching assistant for a practicum course on climate justice that facilitated partnerships directly with community groups in Manhattan and New Orleans.
Olivia is passionate about community development, food system politics, and the liberation of environmental knowledge from institutional hierarchies. She is originally from St. Louis, MO, and currently lives in Chicago, IL.