Since Hurricane Katrina, much of the work at the DSCEJ has focused on research, policy, and community outreach, assistance, and education of displaced African-American residents of New Orleans. Dr. Wright has been an advocate of the safe return of residents, addressing the critical issues of health and environmental restoration and monitoring fairness as it relates to standards of clean up. The center has been a resource to the community providing education, training, and job placement to displaced citizens of New Orleans.
Dr. Wright has conducted groundbreaking and significant research in the area of environmental justice and developed a curriculum for use at the elementary school level that is used by the New Orleans Public Schools. She 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 Superfund and Brownfield sites resulting in their employment.
Dr. Wright provided valuable input into President Clinton's Environmental Justice Transition paper. For her work, she was called to the White House on February 11, 1994, to witness the signing of the Executive Order on Environmental Justice. On April 12, 1994, she was named to the EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC).
On January 11, 1995, Dr. Wright was appointed to the Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Advisory Board and served on the City of New Orleans/Mayor’s Office of Environmental Affairs’ Brownfields Consortium. She served for many years on the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights for the State of Louisiana and formally served on the City of New Orleans’ Select Committee for the Sewerage and Water Board under the administration of Mayor Marc Morial.
Dr. Wright served as chair of the Second National People of Color Leadership Summit in 2002, and is the co-chair of the Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiative. In 2003, Dr. Wright was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, and in 2006, was the recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award. She continues to serve as a strong voice of the grassroots environmental justice movement.
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