Franklin studied environmental science and policy at Cornell University. He now works with the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program to help ensure communities of color have access to energy and are safe from toxic pollution, severe heat and extreme storms.

“Over time, my experiences began to expose the character of the consequences of human action, environmental and social. I found this in the misconnections between science and policy, in the underrepresentation of communities of color in most environmental and sustainability arenas, and in the disproportionate burdens of these consequences on marginalized populations. I am now inspired by others who have been advocating at the intersection of environmental and social issues — those deeply ingrained in identity politics and systematic inequity. Not only do we need to reform how we interact with our environment, but we need to reform how we interact with each other.”