Professor Shalanda H. Baker is a Professor of Law, Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. Professor Baker is an affiliate faculty member in Northeastern’s Global Resilience Institute and Department of Political Science. She teaches courses at the law school and in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Baker was awarded a 2016-17 Fulbright-García Robles grant, which she utilized to explore Mexico’s energy reform, climate change and indigenous rights. Before joining Northeastern’s faculty, Professor Baker spent three years as an associate professor of law at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai’i, where she was the founding director of the Energy Justice Program. Prior to that, she served on the faculty at University of San Francisco School of Law. Baker holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the United States Air Force Academy, a Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law, and an LLM from the University of Wisconsin School of Law, where she also served as a William H. Hastie Fellow. Immediately after law school, before working as a corporate and project finance attorney in both the Boston and Tokyo offices of the law firm of Bingham McCutchen, Professor Baker clerked for then-Associate Justice Roderick Ireland of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She serves on the boards of the Solutions Project and the Clean Energy Group.

Subin DeVar is the director of the Initiative for Energy Justice, a national research center that provides law and policy resources to advocates and policymakers to advance state-level transitions to equitable renewable energy. Prior to working at IEJ, he directed the Sustainable Economies Law Center’s Community Renewable Energy Program to promote a just and rapid transition to clean energy through community control of energy resources. Subin began his career working in the field of nonprofit communications. He first worked for the Tahirih Justice Center, a legal advocacy organization for immigrant women fleeing violence, and then M+R Strategic Services, a consulting firm serving nonprofit organizations. He has a BA and BBA from The University of Texas at Austin and received his JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. During law school, he interned at Communities for a Better Environment, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Natural Resources Defense Counsel. Subin is passionate about building hope that humanity can respond to climate change in a loving, equitable, and transformational manner. He lives, works, and plays in Washington, DC with his brilliant partner and inspiring daughter.

Elena Itämeri is a Fellow at the Initiative for Energy Justice. She graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2021 with her JD and a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law, and she earned her BA in Justice and Peace Studies with a concentration in human rights and sustainability from Georgetown University in 2018. While in law school, Elena served as Editor-in-Chief of Animal Law Review, a board member of Students for Eliminating Environmental Discrimination, and an academic clinic participant for Earthrise Law Center. She also worked as a Law and Policy Clerk for the Green Energy Institute and as a Legal Intern for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Kristen Kortick is a Fellow for the Initiative for Energy Justice. Most recently, she clerked at a top ranked land use, environmental, real estate, and municipal law firm in Sacramento, CA to assist public agency and private clients through administrative proceedings, transactions, acquisitions, and litigation. Kristen began her career in academia in the field of cultural anthropology with an emphasis in environmental anthropology. Kristen’s field research and area focus examined the interplay between communities living nearby resource extraction zones and the greater cultural systems that inform those resource extraction zones. Her work in academia also led to career positions as a journalist, legislative caseworker, and a park ranger prior to law school. She has a BA from University of California, Davis, an MA from George Mason University, and a JD from Lewis and Clark Law School.

Melissa Sonntag is a Communications Associate for the Initiative for Energy Justice. Prior to IEJ, Melissa was on the marketing team for Repsly, a software-as-a-service company, where she gained exposure to a fast-paced, dynamic startup environment. In 2018, Melissa had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica where she spent seven months working at VerdEnergia, a combined reforestation project and permaculture farm. After leaving VerdEnergia, she continued working remotely with the project’s founders on its sister project, Blacksheep Regenerative Resource Management. Melissa holds a B.A. from Northeastern University. As an undergraduate, she served as a student researcher for the Northeastern Environmental Justice Research Collaborative and partnered with her supervising professor during her senior year to lead a class on their research.