Madison, Wis.— At an awards celebration on Thursday, October 26, Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) honored Maria Powell of Madison for her work to identify and reduce sources of toxic contamination in Madison and the surrounding area. She is one of three recipients of the 2023 Bill Iwen Environmental Justice Award. The award was established in 2019 by MEA, a nonprofit environmental law center, to recognize and honor those who are working to advance environmental justice in Wisconsin.
Maria is a co-founder of Madison Environmental Justice Organization (MEJO), an organization dedicated to working with low-income communities and communities of color throughout the Midwest to identify and reduce sources of toxic contamination. Through MEJO, she has worked tirelessly to inform and protect communities across Madison from exposure to toxic substances by breaking down cultural and language barriers that persist between those communities and decision-makers at the local and state level.
The other two recipients of this year’s award are Deanna Branch of Milwaukee and Lisa Doerr of Cushing (Polk County).
Read the full press release here.
Find a photo of Maria Powell here.
