Lisa Jackson is a chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013, the first Black person to hold that position.
Jackson is now Apple’s vice-president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, in charge of the company’s efforts to minimize its impact on the environment by “addressing climate change through renewable energy and energy efficiency, using greener materials, and inventing new ways to conserve precious resources.” With her at the helm, Apple committed to the aspirational goal of achieving carbon neutrality across its global supply chain and the life cycle of every product by 2030.
"The number one thing anyone can do is to be part of the recycling economy. It's a big part of our products, the whole trade-in program, the idea of recycled material use and getting our products back so we can get that material back into the circular economy,” Jackson said to Hello magazine.
A gifted student who excelled in mathematics, Jackson received a scholarship from the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering & Science, which allowed her to gain early exposure to a college environment. She then went on to graduate summa cum laude from Tulane in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering and a Master of Science in chemical engineering from Princeton University in 1986.
Jackson developed an interest in environmental matters following the national and international coverage of the Love Canal Disaster. She spent a year and a half working at Clean Sites, a nonprofit advocating for accelerated cleanup of contaminated areas before joining the EPA in Washington, D.C. as a staff-level engineer. She later went on to serve as chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine and as commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Jackson served as Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013. Appointed by President Barack Obama, her focus was on reducing greenhouse gasses, protecting air and water quality, preventing exposure to toxic contamination, and expanding outreach to communities on environmental issues.