Lisa Jackson Is Leading One of the Most Powerful Movements Within Innovation and Sustainability

Lisa Jackson posing for an image - Credit: Andrew Simon

Sierra Pope | Multimedia News Intern 

4-minute Read

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Lisa Jackson has been redesigning blueprints, despite the disadvantages that circulate around race and gender. "When I went to school, engineering was incredibly male dominated," Jackson noted. "I think during my undergraduate degree only two women in my class were chemical engineers and in grad school it was the same.” 

By pressing through the odds, Jackson is able to define herself as a trailblazing environmentalist of color who values mankind's connection to natural habitats.

"I think as a woman we approach things differently,” Jackson admitted. “We look at problems from a systemic view, we're collaborative by nature, and engineering is really about solving problems. While I'm sure there were times when I thought it would be nice to have had more female peers, I now see it as a strength and an asset."

After successfully working her way up the chain, Former President Barack Obama nominated Jackson to serve as the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator in 2008. Jackson’s main focus was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, creating stricter fuel efficiency standards for the betterment of people’s health.

"In that year, at the Copenhagen Summit, Obama passed that the U.S. (United States) must regulate carbon dioxide and other pollutants because of their impact on public welfare,” Jackson explained. “It was a major moment of change in how that policy will be made. I'm so proud to have been part of that."

Lisa Jackson with Former President Barack Obama - Credit: Wikipedia (Website)

Today, Jackson is more hands-on with technology, making her mark with Apple as the Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives.

"Well, the fun part of the job is putting all the incredibly brilliant and talented people who work for Apple to also work on behalf of the planet,” Jackson stated. “We don't just want to make the best products in the world, they need to be the best planets for the world as well.”

Globally, only around 17% of e-waste is recycled, and there are almost 350 million Unrecyclable tonnes of e-waste on Earth. Because of this, Jackson and her team are tasked to ensure that iPhones, iPods, and chargers are discarded properly in efforts to decrease the negatives. 

"If you have Apple devices, you can bring them into any Apple store, or you can mail them to us,” Jackson instructed. “We even have a robot located in Europe in the Netherlands that will take apart iPhones because we work so hard to get the materials back into production."

Lisa Jackson posing for a picture - Credit: Kaylin D.

Of course, just like any occupation, there are hurdles involving an engineer's perspective of ecological change.

"You have to challenge yourself when you embark on a project at work," Jackson said. “We all challenge ourselves in the room not to look at it as 'it's going to be hard' or 'it's going to be expensive.’”

Driven by a desire to challenge the misconception that the environment is a constraint, Jackson promises to tackle every obstacle. To her, the contributions are not a limitation, but a catalyst for equity, especially for minority leaders.