Get to Know Della Wright

As the Director of Evaluation at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Bloomberg Fellow Della Wright leads the evaluation of the center’s programming, including the HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium, a project that engages five community-based organizations across the Gulf South who are rooted in communities experiencing environmental injustice. 

In her home region of New Orleans and the broader Gulf South, the links between environmental justice and health are apparent. Wright points to the stretch of land along the Mississippi River often referred to as “Cancer Alley,” where roughly 200 petrochemical facilities sit alongside homes and neighborhoods. Residents in these communities, disproportionately Black, face elevated rates of cancer, respiratory illness, and reproductive health issues. The pattern reflects a long history of structural inequality, where land once occupied by plantations has been repurposed for industrial use, continuing cycles of harm. 

In Pensacola, Florida, she encountered another stark example. Poor zoning decisions placed multiple landfills next to residential neighborhoods and even an elementary school. Children played within sight of warning signs for toxic gases. One resident, forced from her home after medical advice, put it bluntly: “leave, or risk your life.” 

In the face of this challenge, Wright is committed to action. “Our climate and environmental degradation are the most immediate threats to health for every person on our planet, and those threats are distributed in ways that are deeply unjust,” she says. But alongside that urgency is a conviction that solutions already exist within the communities most affected. Wright’s research has centered Dr. Beverly Wright’s “Communiversity” model, which prioritizes partnerships between researchers, advocates, and communities, to fight for environmental justice. “The knowledge, ideas, and expertise are home-grown,” she adds, emphasizing that her role is not to impose answers, but to work in partnership with the community. 

During her time as a Bloomberg Fellow, Wright worked closely on the HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium. The consortium connects historically Black colleges and universities with community-based organizations to address environmental and health disparities across the region. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wright supported these partners by translating complex, inconsistent public health data into accessible, localized infographics and tools communities could use to understand their risks and demand better transparency from local agencies. “The most effective strategies build power and support the priorities of the communities at risk,” she says.  

Her time in the Bloomberg Fellowship has allowed her to build her skillset, network, and knowledge base. Through classes with her fellow DrPH cohort, and with the assistance of her advisor Dr. Genee Smith, Wright has grown immensely and has brought her newfound skills directly to her community where she now uses new, creative methodologies to assess the impact of environmental justice campaigns. 

As she looks toward graduation in May, Wright remains focused on prioritizing partnerships and building stronger, healthier communities alongside those impacted most by environmental injustice.