Environmental advocate Angelou Ezeilo was born December 11, 1970, in Jersey City, New Jersey to parents Helen and Walter Chiles. As a child, during the summer her family traveled to their second home in upstate New York, which was surrounded by breathtaking nature. Those experiences led her to become involved in enviromental protection.
Ezeilo graduated from Mount Saint Mary Academy in 1988 then attended Spelman College, graduating in 1992. She then earned a law degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 1995.
Though Ezeilo grew up with a love for the outdoors, she understood there were many Black children in urban areas didn’t always have access to green spaces. The absence of nature in the lives of black urban children led her to accept positions such as a Legal Specialist for the New Jersey State Agriculture and Development Committee from 1999 to 2001 and as Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land where she worked from 2001 to 2007. She noted not only the absence of access to nature for African Americans but the accompanying lack of education and involvement that led to greater appreciation of the outdoors.
To rectify that situation, in 2007 Ezeilo founded the Greening Youth Foundation (GYF), an organization dedicated to engaging underserved youth and young adults in environmental stewardship and workforce development. Through GYF, Ezeilo has made it her mission to educate and inspire young people of color to pursue careers in conservation and environmental fields. She has done this through GYF partnerships with national parks such as the Everglades National Park and the Allegheny National Forest, conservation agencies like the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and the South Fork Conservancy, and green companies like Outdoor Afro to provide internships, job placements, and training programs for young people of color.
Ezeilo’s work has made a lasting impact on communities that are often left out of conversations about environmentalism. Through her leadership, GYF has trained thousands of young people, giving them the tools and confidence to pursue careers that make a difference for both their communities and the planet. She’s opened doors for Black and Brown youth, helping them see that they belong in the environmental sector, a space that has historically been dominated by white faces.
Ezeilo, who currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, is changing the way we think about environmental stewardship, showing that it’s not just a privilege for the white wealthy, but a responsibility and a right for all of us. Her efforts are helping to diversify the green economy, making sure that future generations have a chance to work in roles that protect our planet one green space at a time.
