Mustafa Santiago Ali

Senior Vice President of Climate, Environmental Justice & Community Revitalization, Hip Hop Caucus

Mustafa Santiago Ali is the senior vice president of Climate, Environmental Justice & Community Revitalization for the Hip Hop Caucus. The Hip Hop Caucus is a national, nonprofit and non-partisan organization that connects the hip-hop community to the civic process to build power and create positive change. As HHC senior vice president, he leads the strategic direction, expansion and operation of the Hip Hop Caucus’ portfolio on climate, environmental justice and community revitalization. Mr. Ali is a renowned national speaker, trainer and facilitator, specializing in social justice issues focused on revitalizing our most vulnerable communities. During his career, he has conducted more than 1,000 presentations across the country, including speeches, guest lectures and trainings. He has also worked with over 500 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health and economic justice.

Mr. Ali joined the Hip Hop Caucus, after working 24 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At the EPA, he served as assistant associate administrator for environmental justice and senior advisor for environmental justice and community revitalization. Mr. Ali elevated environmental justice issues and worked across federal agencies to strengthen environmental justice policies, programs and initiatives. His responsibilities at the EPA also included leading the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (EJIWG), which was comprised of 17 federal agencies and White House offices focused on implementing holistic strategies to address issues facing vulnerable communities.

During his service at the EPA, Mr. Ali worked for agency administrators, beginning with William Riley and ending with Scott Pruitt. He joined the EPA as a student and became a founding member of its Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). Mr. Ali also served as the director of communications in the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ), where he led the Communications and Stakeholder Involvement (CSI) team. In 2012, he launched the agency’s Environmental Justice in Action blog, which reached more than 100,000 followers. The blog highlighted innovative actions to address environmental justice, sustainability and climate change issues. In 2010, Mr. Ali served as the environmental justice lead for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.