Sustainable Pittsburgh Executive Director selected to serve on Governor-Elect Transition Advisory Committee on Environment and Energy

Earlier this month Pennsylvania Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro and Lieutenant Governor-Elect Austin Davis announced Joylette Portlock, Ph.D., executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh, as a member of the new administration’s Transition Advisory Committee on Environment and Energy.

Through Sustainable Pittsburgh and in previous capacities, Dr. Portlock has worked on environmental issues at the local, state, and federal level and currently serves on the Allegheny County Board of Health and the Environmental Justice Advisory Board (EJAB) for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. She was an advisor to Project Drawdown, and serves in many other roles.

More recently, her work has focused on advancing multi-sector decarbonization and clean energy workforce development in southwestern Pennsylvania. Under her leadership, Sustainable Pittsburgh hosted convenings involving more than 200 stakeholders around these opportunities.

Dr. Portlock focuses on building community around sustainability topics, with a particular interest in making important scientific, technical, or complex information accessible and useful. 

There are seven Transition Advisory Committees, with the purpose of advising the incoming administration and preparing to advance Governor-Elect Shapiro’s priorities of economic growth, safer communities, and high-quality education for all Pennsylvania students.

According to the Governor-Elect’s announcement, the Transition Advisory Committee for Environment and Energy “will be made up of environmental experts, labor leaders who represent workers in the energy industry, and policy experts and will advise the transition on how to carry out Shapiro’s vision to create a bold, comprehensive climate and energy plan that will grow Pennsylvania’s economy, protect and create jobs, address climate change, and protect Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and pure water.” MeeCee Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Versant Strategies is serving as chair of this committee.

Dr. Portlock’s service in this capacity is an opportunity to contribute at the state level to co-create together a fundamentally equitable, resilient, healthy, and prosperous southwestern Pennsylvania – and beyond.