"As I pursue a career in environmental justice policy, I’m committed to listening to others and co-designing solutions grounded in trusted relationships."

Caroline Leland is earning dual master’s degrees in public policy and environmental science with a commitment to improving lives. Caroline grew up in Tarboro, North Carolina, a small town with limited resources, and she has long centered community care in her education and career. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she participated in the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program as an undergraduate, she made a point to give back. Caroline met with experts in service learning and organizational design, along with leaders in Tarboro, to discuss how their work improves lives. Soon she convinced her scholarship program to fund undergraduate internships in Tarboro, worked with local residents to recruit a board of volunteers to manage the program, and co-founded a nonprofit: the Eastern North Carolina Internship Program. 

Caroline reflects, “My small-town upbringing gave me a community-oriented and relational approach to service. As I pursue a career in environmental justice policy, I’m committed to listening to others and co-designing solutions grounded in trusted relationships. Regardless of future barriers, I will persist with determination to improve life for disadvantaged communities.” Caroline went on to work as a journalist focused on equitable and sustainable food systems and, most recently, as communications lead for the Carolina Center for Public Service. 

Caroline is now a deeply committed Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) as well as a departmental steward and organizing committee member for the Graduate Employees Organization at U-M; last year, she led efforts to make the GSI application and hiring process more accessible and transparent. She was also awarded a highly competitive Dow Sustainability Fellowship to conduct an interdisciplinary, team-based project on energy equity. Caroline is known by her professors for her “outstanding intellect, motivation, communication, and leadership skills” and commitment to ensuring that “future students also have the opportunity to succeed and thrive.”

CEW+ applauds Caroline’s commitment and drive and names her a Margaret Dow Towsley Scholar.