Public Health Action Committee Members

Our Community Partners

Based in Durham and Asheville, Clean Water for North Carolina wants to see clean, safe, accessible water for all North Carolinians, protected by empowered, educated communities and a publicly accountable government and economy. They help communities organize and advocate.

The Lumber Riverkeeper is a member of the Winyah Rivers Alliance, a group protecting rivers. They encourage stewardship of river resources, advocate to guard against threats to clean water and conserve land and water.

Public Health Action Committee Members

Donna Chavis
Friends of the Earth

Donna Chavis is a senior fossil fuel campaigner and an elder of the Lumbee Nation. Donna orients her advocacy around the Principles of Environmental Justice. She was a member of the Planning Committee of the First National People of Color Leadership Summit in 1991 which developed the principles. In her free time, Donna enjoys spending time with family outside, music and poetry.

Traci Colley, MSEH, REHS
Union County Public Health

Traci Colley is the environmental health director in Union County. Her department protects public health and preserves resources by hosting events to prevent disease, mitigate environmental risks and educate citizens. She likes taking partnership opportunities like the one offered by UNC SRP to empower communities in addressing their unique environmental health challenges. Her drive comes from directly improving the health of the community and surrounding environment.

Jeff Currie
Winyah Rivers Alliance

Jeff Currie is the Lumber Riverkeeper and a member of Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. He uses his experience with Indigenous communities in his environmental advocacy. Jeff is working on his thesis to complete a Master’s of Arts in Folklore at UNC – Chapel Hill.

Alfred W. Kwasikpui
Northampton County Citizens Against Coal Ash

Alfred Kwasikpui is the co-chair of Northampton County Citizens Against Coal Ash which protests coal ash storage in the county and investigates coal ash already in Northampton. Alfred enjoys learning how to engage his community outside of the legal system he worked in as a judge and attorney before his retirement.

Crystal Lee Pow Jackson
NC Division of Public Health

Crystal Lee Pow Jackson is a toxicologist who teaches people how to avoid and reduce exposure to harmful substances through the Private Well and Health Program. She works with a wide array of people and enjoys collaboration.

Wilson Mize
NC Division of Public Health

Wilson Mize is an environmental health specialist who oversees the state’s Private Drinking Water Well Permitting and Inspection Program. He enjoys helping property owners and well contractors solve problems regarding water quality and wells. He spends a lot of his free time in the water too. Wilson is a PADI Certified Dive Master who has logged over 250 dives.

Emily Sutton
Haw River Assembly

Emily Sutton is the Haw Riverkeeper. She monitors water quality in the Haw River watershed and advocates for cleaner water by collaborating with agencies and legal teams to enforce the Clean Water Act and hold polluters accountable. Meeting new people who love the Haw River as much as she does fuels her passion. Emily is in the process of adding sailing to her list of water-related hobbies.

Hope Taylor, MSPH
Clean Water for North Carolina

Hope Taylor was the executive director before she retired in 2021. Clean Water for North Carolina works to research and advocate for safe, affordable drinking water. She enjoys working with passionate like-minded people. Hope has been farming for more than 40 years and has a small dairy goat herd.

Rachel Velez
Clean Water for North Carolina

Rachel Velez is the Water Justice Program Manager. She partners with communities to identify contamination sources and find long-term, sustainable solutions. Rachel loves grassroots organizing and is thankful for the opportunity to help others become environmental justice advocates in their communities.

Therese Vick
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League

Therese Vick is a community organizer who helps protest fracking and coal ash disposal by helping organize, train and plan strategic campaigns. She also assists regulatory agencies in research. Therese does her best to lift up the community members she works with and improve government transparency.