Careers, Life, and Yale Thursday Show | Supporting Community Through Film and Agriculture: A Conversation with Michelle Lewis ’13 MDiv, ’13 MESc

Michelle Estelle Lewis is founder and Executive Director of Peace Garden Project, a 501(c)(3)  focused on Environmental Justice, Food Justice and the intersectionality of the justice issues present in our society. She is an award winning filmmaker and the Founder and Director of the Outer Banks Environmental Film Festival. Michelle graduated from Yale with a Master of Environmental Science, a Master of Divinity, and a Certificate from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the Arts. She is the first person of color to complete the joint degree program in religion and ecology at Yale. While at Yale her research focused on connecting under-served populations to the environment, and the potential role of religion in these endeavors. She has helped local, national, and international NGOs understand engaging underserved populations to move toward environmental/climate solutions. She is a former U.N. Advisor for the Federated States of Micronesia and United States Park Ranger. She is also a pastor focused on the role of interfaith partnerships in creating a cleaner climate future. She completed her doctoral work at Candler School of Theology and has research interests in Religion and the Environment, the Eco-theologies of Black Coastal Communities, and the Effects of Green Space Access on Spirituality.