Dr. Mildred McClain
Founder & Executive Director
Dr. Mildred McClain AKA Mama Bahati, a 50-year veteran of the People’s Movement for Justice and Self Determination worldwide, currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of the Harambee House / Citizens for Environmental Justice which she founded in 1990. Mama Bahati has worked in the fields of education, community development, public health, Environmental Justice and people’s liberation struggles for over 50 years. She has championed youth leadership development through the Black Youth Leadership Development Institute since 1988, where over 3,000 young people have been trained and put to work for their people.
Considered an Environmental Justice pioneer, Dr. McClain has engaged with communities all over the world, assisting in building their capacity to speak for themselves as well as participate substantively in decision-making processes that impact their daily lives. For 30 years she has fought for Environmental Justice in marginalized and disenfranchised communities throughout the USA. She has worked tirelessly to bring attention to the plight of People of Color who live near nuclear weapons production sites and address the impact of radiation. Dr. McClain has coordinated over 100 major conferences and Train-the-Trainer courses for Environmental Justice Stakeholders and communities. She developed the P3=Public Participations Preparation / Community & Leadership Development Training Curriculum. Dr. McClain has also served as a consultant to various schools, organizations, businesses and national campaigns in the areas of organizational development, community development, grassroots organizing, crisis intervention, program planning, empowerment strategies, curriculum development, human relations training, staff development, educational/cultural program implementation, campaign and conference planning, and environmental training and education.
She is a high school graduate of the Commonwealth School of Boston, Graduate of the University of Massachusetts -- Boston, has a Master of Education from Harvard and Antioch, and a Doctorate in Education from Harvard School of Education. Dr. McClain has received numerous awards both locally and nationally from various organizations to include: The Bannerman Fellow, Keystone Environmental Leadership Award, National Council of Negro Women Award, Award of Excellence from the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Justice Award from the EPA, and is the 2017 Recipient of the Sierra Club's Robert Bullard Environmental Justice Award and the American Public Health Association's Damu Smith Environmental Health Achievement Award.
Mama Bahati is a devout believer and a staunch Pan-Africanist. She has been serving God since age 12, when she was baptized in Second Arnold Baptist Church, Savannah, Georgia. She is every woman, grandmother, daughter, friend, a support mechanism to many, and a strength giver to those of feeble knees, an encourager in all matters of life and of the heart. She is the reigning champion of environmental justice. She has studied meditation, healing arts, Tai Chi, Yoga and African Spiritual Practices since 1969. She is a mother, grandma and godmother.