This year marks the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy’s ninth annual Carnot Prize for distinguished contributions to energy policy—and the 2024 recipient is Jacqueline Patterson, a trailblazer in environmental justice and a champion for frontline communities.

Dr. Patterson is the founder and executive director of the Chisholm Legacy Project, a resource hub for Black frontline climate justice leadership. Before this, she served for over a decade as the senior director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program—a program she founded.

During her tenure, Dr. Patterson designed and implemented a robust portfolio that supported state and local leaders, with a reach that extended to hundreds of communities on the frontlines of environmental injustice.

A lecture in her honor will be given on Monday, November 4 by Shelley Welton, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Law and Energy Policy at the Kleinman Center and Penn Carey Law. Register for the event here.