Cassandra Carmichael
Executive Director

Rev. Michael McClain
National Outreach Coordinator

Prior to joining NRPE in September 2013, Cassandra was the Washington Office and Eco-Justice Program director for the National Council of Churches USA. In her role at the NCC, she oversaw the Council's advocacy and eco-justice work and worked to set and implement strategic priorities in partnership with various stakeholders. Previously, she was director of faith-based outreach at the Center for a New American Dream. She received her graduate degree in environmental education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Ms. Carmichael is a senior fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program and a previous board member on the Chesapeake Bay Alliance, and she has also served on the White House Faith-Based and Neighborhood Advisory Council Task Force on Climate and Environment and the Advisory Council of the Green Bible. Cassandra can be contacted at Cassandra@nrpe.org.

---

Israel Harris
Policy Director

Israel Harris guides NRPE’s advocacy and legislative work by connecting with the interfaith community, religious leaders, and advocates throughout the country in support of climate and environmental justice. He is a partner staff member and Advocacy Director at the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), and in the inaugural cohort of the Jewish Organizing Institute and Network (JOIN) for Justice’s Jew of Color (JOC) Community Organizing Fellowship. With a passion for youth engagement, Israel is also an Organizer with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s (RAC) Youth Organizing Team.  
Before this joint position, Israel was an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Fellow at the RAC as the first JOC in the program’s partnership with the Jews of Color Initiative (JoCI). He organized the Jewish community to engage on issues including voting rights, criminal justice reform, civil rights and liberties, and reparations for Black Americans, and contributed to the RAC’s National Voting Rights and Climate Justice Campaigns.

---

Katie Brown
Program Associate

Katie Brown works to support the various programs, partnerships, research projects, and advocacy efforts of NRPE. Katie graduated from Saint Mary's College of Notre Dame with a degree in Political Science and Philosophy, and is currently pursuing her Masters in Theological Studies at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry. 
An active member of the Catholic Church, she also works with the USCCB's Laudato Si' Advocates Program and is passionate about lay leadership and utilizing Catholic Social Teaching to promote justice and the common good in the public square. Prior to NRPE, she worked with Rock Creek Conservancy in Washington DC and served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. 
When not working, Katie can be found training for her next marathon, baking lots of bread, and spending time with her husband, Nathan. 

---

On behalf of NRPE, Rev. McClain works with denominational leaders and congregations across the US to help educate them on environmental stewardship, climate change and clean energy. Rev. Michael McClain, a native of Statesville, NC, has been pastor of Historic Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Catawba, SC. He has held several leadership positions in his ministerial service including Treasurer of the Sandy River Baptist Association- Upper Division, Executive Board Member of the Baptist Educational and missionary Convention of South Carolina and Deputy Director General of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. Rev. McClain is also the founder and president of Green Bulb Lighting of Columbia, SC, a green energy and lighting efficiency company that specializes in green technology installations including solar and wind generation.

---

Brigitte Bazie
Special Projects

Brigitte Bazie works on special projects for NRPE including National Monuments and communication projects. Brigitte has worked on antiracism and inclusivity issues as part of a Social Justice Inclusive Leadership Institute at Montgomery College. She has worked as a student assistant at the Student Health and Wellness Center at Montgomery College and served as assistant coach on the Girls on the Run of Montgomery College.

Brigitte has earned top honors at Montgomery College and earned the Excellence in Philosophy Award in 2021. She is active in the United Methodist Church and in the Summer of 2022 participated in a summer long Ethnic Young Adult program with the General Board of Church and Society-United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. Brigitte is passionate about health, economic justice and how that connects to environmental justice and advocacy.

---

Partner Staff

Laudato Si' Advocates Program

Sarah Carter, Program Manager

Creation Justice Ministries

Karyn Bigelow, Co-Executive Director
Avery Davis Lamb, Co-Executive Director
Helen Smith, Policy Advocate
Derrick Weston, Theological Education & Training Coordinator
Silas Seil, Creation Justice Fellow
Clara Grabenhorst, Creation Justice Fellow
Katrina Friesen, Truth & Healing Fellow
Gabrielle Poli, Blue Theology Fellow
Andrea "Danny" Folds, Content Contribution Volunteer
Emma Craven, Email Design Volunteer

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Swartz, Executive Director

U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops

Ricardo Simmonds, Consultant

Catholic Climate Covenant

Dan Misleh, Founder
Jose Aguto, Executive Director
​Elana Gaona, Director of Communications
Kayla Jacobs, Program Manager, Youth Mobilization
Diana Marin, Program Manager, Young Adult Mobilization
Paz Artaza-Regan, Program Manager, Care for Creation
Emily Burke, Social Media Manager
Kathy Foley, Office Manager
Henry Glynn, Policy Advisor
Kelly Hickman, Data Base Manager
Michael Wright, Homily Helps Editor
Nancy LaVerda, Public Health Volunteer

Evangelical Environmental Network

Rev. Jessica Moerman, President and CEO
Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, Vice President
Tori Goebel, National Organizer and Spokesperson, YECA
Marqus Cole, Esq. Director of Church and Community Engagement
Kim Anderson, Associate Director for OH and PA Outreach
Lindsay Garcia, Director of Communications
Carolyn Heckman, Pennsylvania Policy and Outreach Coordinator