Majora Carter

A visionary and passionate voice in urban planning, Majora Carter is founder and Executive Director of Sustainable South Bronx, which since 2001 has worked to achieve “environmental justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by the needs of the community.”

Viewing urban issues through an environmental lens, Carter sees a direct connection between ecological and socio-economic degradation, but also finds therein the potential for their mutual renewal.  The locus of her work is the South Bronx, where she was born, raised, continues to live, and works under the banner of “Green the ghetto!”  Her vision and persistence led to the creation of the community’s first open-waterfront park in sixty years, Hunts Point Riverside Park.   She has secured a federal grant of $1.25 million and additional funding totaling $20 million that will allow construction to begin this year on an eleven mile greenway along the South Bronx waterfront, with pedestrian and bike paths that will connect rivers and neighborhoods, as well as open spaces and areas for mixed-use economic development.

She continually advocates for eco-friendly practices, but also demonstrates their feasibility in her own back yard, for example a green roof on top of her own office.   Based on the belief that environmental quality cannot be achieved or maintained by a community without the personal involvement of its citizens, Carter implemented the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training Program to create a skilled “green-collar” workforce with both a personal and economic stake in the environment, thereby planting the seeds for community revitalization. 

Carter, who studied art at New York University and received an MFA in 1997, has been recognized and awarded for her work in South Bronx, including the McArthur “Genius” award and the NYU Martin Luther King Award for Humanitarian Service.   But most importantly, through her deeply personal and impassioned presentations at universities, businesses, and community groups across the nation, she inspires people from every walk of life to make environmental stewardship part of their everyday lives.


Click here for more on the work of Sustainable South Bronx http://www.ssbx.org/” target=”_blank”>