Volunteer Spotlight: Valerie Nelson, AB ‘69
Valerie is an environmental activist and policy analyst, and she has worked at both the local and national levels. Her primary engagement has been in the water sector, as she is the founder and director of the Water Alliance. She became especially passionate about environmental activism after living in Gloucester, which is an historic fishing port; her community is experiencing both mounting threats and inadequate responses within the overall structures of federal and state governance, but her insights into intricate systems at conferences and in research projects has reified her standing in wider national circles and has affected change in causes she cares about.
Valerie has become an active volunteer within HACE by organizing Harvard’s Climate Conversations program, which is sponsored by the HAA. The final session is on January 13th, and the conversations have touched on climate change, biodiversity, planetary health, and social justice. Valerie was particularly motivated to do something at her 50th reunion in 2019, as many of her peers were concerned about the effects of climate change on their children and grandchildren. She reflected on the history of protests within her class during their undergraduate years, and many within her generation still want to make a difference.
Valerie sees HACE’s potential in its ability to serve as a place for alumni of all generations and backgrounds to learn more about climate science, as well as emerging technologies and solutions in mitigation and adaptation. She wants the community to bring together citizens, professionals, government officials, investors, and other stakeholders to achieve high impact and equity in climate solutions. Valerie would like to encourage everyone to think about getting involved in local campaigns and causes in the places we all live, so that we can have a positive impact on our own communities as well as bring those lessons and skills back to the wider Harvard community to act and affect change together.
Valerie Nelson was born in Norwood, MA and has spent most of her life between MA and Washington D.C. for policy and advocacy work. She graduated from Harvard College in 1969, from London School of Economics with a M.Sc in 1971, and from Yale with a PhD in Economics in 1977, and she also taught public policy courses at HKS and MIT in the 1970s. She is currently based in Gloucester, MA.
