Board of Directors
Dr. Adesanya founded E2I2 in the mid-1990s with support and funding from the Environmental Protection Agency. As Chair of the E2I2 Board of Directors, he works closely with the other Directors and Executive Director to lead the strategic direction of the organization.
Dr. Adesanya is the Senior Vice President of Intellectual Concepts where he leads the strategic direction of the Mobility – Engineering Services Division. In this capacity, he leverages his extensive industry experience and relationship to provide strategic direction and sustainability for the growth, and the development of the next generation of leaders that will take the company to the next level.
Additionally, Dr. Adesanya leads the environmental impact and health service area given Dr. Adesanya’s current appointment as a Board Member for CDC’s Board of Scientific Counselors for NIEH/ATSDR, which, brings an additional level of expertise and guidance to related service offerings across the Intellectual Concepts.
Vice Chair of the E2I2 Board of Directors, Essence Johnson brings a deep passion for health equity and environmental justice along with decades of community organizing. As Vice Chair, Ms. Johnson has an essential role in building meaningful community partnerships and planning for the long-term, sustainable growth of E2I2.
Ms. Johnson is also Vice President of Operations at Intellectual
Concepts where she plays an integral role in the organization,
facilitating local mobility planning and coordination, public outreach, and
partnership building. She serves as the liaison with leads in the community and
corporations to develop and maintain current transportation services and
eligibility processes. She also, through her HR scope, offers employer support
for transit programs and community networks. Effectively balancing big picture
thinking and strategic planning with hands-on execution has allowed Essence to
combine decisiveness, strong business acumen and formal education to achieve
objectives.
Sharon recently retired from Truist Banks (formerly SunTrust Banks) where she held various Accounting and Financial Management positions over a 36+ year career. As a First Vice President and Senior Financial Manager, Sharon supported various lines of businesses including Residential Mortgage, Corporate and Investment Banking, Commercial Real Estate and Affordable Housing. In these roles, Sharon was responsible for Financial Planning and Forecasting, Budget Management, Audit and Compliance, and Financial Reporting.
Early in her career, Sharon developed a passion for community service and volunteerism. As President of the SunTrust Employee Club, Sharon managed many of the bank’s volunteer activities including in-school tutoring for schools at risk and Junior Achievement. Collaborating with health care partners, Sharon developed and coordinated the bank’s very first Health Fair. Sharon turned her passion to acknowledging the importance of creating wealth through affordable home ownership. She worked with the SunTrust Foundation coordinating executive sponsors and volunteers to build over 25 Habitat for Humanity homes. This led to becoming a member of the Board of Directors with the NW Metro Atlanta Habitat for Humanity affiliate, where she served as Secretary. Sharon also enjoyed teaching personal financial literacy to college students attending the Atlanta University Center and young Habitat homeowners. Sharon currently serves on the executive board of the Cobb County political party of her choice as Treasurer.
Sharon is excited to bring her breadth of Financial
Management experience and her passion for community service and activism to
E2I2.
Dr. Beverly L. Wright is an environmental justice scholar, advocate, author, civic leader, professor of Sociology, and the Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), the first-ever environmental justice center in the United States and a proud partner of E2I2. Born and raised in New Orleans, Dr. Wright has experienced and witnessed the polluting effects of Cancer Alley–an 85-mile stretch of land between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that is home to over 150 petrochemical plants and refineries–her entire life. Under her guidance, DSCEJ has addressed environmental and health inequities along the Mississippi River and coastal regions of Louisiana for two decades while providing education, health and safety training and job placement for residents in communities impacted by climate change.
Dr. Wright’s significant research on environmental justice led her to develop a groundbreaking curriculum that has been used to introduce thousands of students in the New Orleans Public Schools system to environmental justice. She also manages Hazardous Waste Worker Training Programs that embrace a work-based curriculum and a holistic approach to learning for young men and women living near contaminated sites, resulting in their employment. She developed the “communiversity model”, a partnership between communities and universities that integrates community concerns and real-life experiences into research and policymaking for academic educators and researchers.
She is the author and co-author of numerous scholarly books and articles including:
- Race, Place & the Environment After Hurricane Katrina from Westview Press
- The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How The Government Response Endangers African-American Communities from New York University Press.
Dr. Wright received her BA from Grambling College and her MA and PhD in Sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, from where she also received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003.
