Mustafa Santiago

National Wildlife Federation

Executive Vice President of Conservation & Justice

Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is the Executive Vice President of Conservation & Justice for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), former Interim Chief of Programs at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), and Instructor at American University. He is the Founder and CEO of Revitalization Strategies. He also serves as a commissioner for The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). Before joining NWF, Mustafa was the Senior Vice President for the Hip Hop Caucus (HHC), a national nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that connects the Hip Hop community to the civic process. Before joining the HHC, Mustafa worked 22 years at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)and two years on Capitol Hill working for Congressman John Conyers, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Mustafa began working on Social Justice issues at 16, and joined the EPA as a student, becoming a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). He most recently served as Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associate Administrator. He led the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (IWG), which brought together 17 Federal Agencies and departments and White House offices to leverage resources to strategically uplift vulnerable communities across the country. He has also worked with over 1,000 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health, and economic justice. In 2019, Mustafa co-designed and co-moderated the first Presidential Forum on Environmental Justice with Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now. He has interviewed some of America’s most influential leaders in Politics, Hip Hop, Civil Rights, Climate, and Social Justice. He currently works with several Fortune 500 companies as they journey towards becoming 21st-century organizations, focused on integrating justice and equity into their respective programs, policies, and budgeting decisions. In late 2020, he launched the Clean Economy of Color Coalition (CECC) to better prepare and educate entrepreneurs, frontline organizations, and local officials for the new sets of opportunities that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, Inflation Reduction Act, and Chip’s Act provide to build wealth, lower emissions and address the climate crisis. To date, thousands of participants have engaged with the CECC, which continues to grow monthly. Mustafa has also worked with a number of Congressional representatives in the design of legislation focused on health care, gun violence, climate, housing, transportation, jobs, and environmental justice. He has testified on Capitol Hill numerous times, highlighting how stronger legislation can drive more inclusive policies, investments, and actions that directly affect our most vulnerable communities. Dr. Ali is frequently seen on television, including appearances on MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, VICE, FUSE, BET, National Geographic, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and Democracy NOW! Mustafa is also a regular guest on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Black News Channel, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and many others… Mustafa has been featured or cited in over 300 news publications and has been a guest lecturer at over 100 colleges and universities. He currently serves as a commissioner, advisor, or board member on the Roddenberry Foundation, National Children’s Campaign, Climate Power, TREE, One Million of Us, The Weather Channel (Pattrn), Green Sports Alliance, DC Environmental Film Festival, The NAACP Image Awards and Netflix.