Celebrating Women's History Month: Denise Patel

Denise is the National Organizing Director at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, where she coordinates the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (EJLF). She began her advocacy career in college, working to free political prisoners and advance democracy through human rights organizing. At WE ACT, her passion for environment and human rights come together fully.

"I am fighting against the disenfranchisement of Black and Brown communities that has been established through the American democratic process and places a constant, enduring burden on the health of the people in those communities," Patel said. "These same communities have been subjected to poor siting decisions that put the worst polluting industries in their backyard, that draw red lines around their communities and leave them chronically underfunded and undervalued. These are the realities that rock me to my core, but the thing that keeps me showing up every day are the people I talk to every day."

Before joining WE ACT, Denise served as U.S. Program Director for Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, where she worked at the intersection of waste, health, and climate toward a toxic-free world. She has also served as a Climate Campaigns Senior Advisor at New York Communities for Change. She holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, with a focus on climate and health.

In a moment when environmental and public health victories feel hard-won, Patel embodies what Women's History Month asks us to celebrate: a sense of hope rooted in history.

"I know that when we organize, we can win,” she said. “We have learned that lesson time and time again from the movements for Women's Suffrage, Civil Rights, and so many others. It is on us to move, to build, and to organize for what we believe is right. There is hope in that history and community in that future."

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