Majora Carter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Majora Carter
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| Born | October 27, 1966 New York, New York, U.S.
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| Education | Wesleyan University (BA) New York University (MFA) |
Majora Carter (born October 27, 1966) is an American expert who helps improve cities and neighborhoods. She is also a public radio host. Majora grew up in the South Bronx area of New York City. She started and led a non-profit group called Sustainable South Bronx from 2001 to 2008. This group worked on environmental justice, which means making sure everyone, especially people in poorer areas, has a healthy environment. After 2008, she began working in the private business world.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Majora Carter went to the Bronx High School of Science. After that, she studied film at Wesleyan University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1997, she received a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University (NYU). While studying at NYU, she moved back to her family's home in Hunts Point.
Career and Community Work
Helping Communities and the Environment
In 2001, Majora Carter started a group called Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx). She was its leader until 2008. SSBx worked to create the Hunts Point Riverside Park, which used to be an illegal garbage dump. Carter also helped start the Bronx River Alliance. SSBx continued her work to clean up and restore the Bronx River waterfront.
In 2003, Sustainable South Bronx began the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program. This was one of the first programs in the country to train people for "green jobs" in cities. These jobs help the environment. Other SSBx projects focused on fitness, creating a community market, and improving air quality.
In 2007, Carter helped create Green for All with Van Jones. In 2008, a New York Times article called her "The Green Power Broker." It also said she was "one of the city's best-known advocates for environmental justice." Some people in the South Bronx felt that others should also get credit for some of the achievements. However, other activists said her recognition was well deserved.
Olympic Torch Incident
In 2008, Majora Carter was a torch-bearer for the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco. Many parts of the relay had protests about the Chinese government's actions toward Tibet. Even though Carter had agreed not to use the event for political reasons, she pulled out a small Tibetan flag during her part of the relay.
Security guards from the Chinese torch escort team removed her from the relay. Police officers then pushed her into the crowd. Some other torch-bearers were upset by her actions. They felt she had dishonored herself and the event.
Media Appearances and Productions
Majora Carter's TED talk in 2006 was one of the first talks to launch the TED website. She gave a second TED talk in 2022. This made her the only Black woman who is not an entertainer to be invited to speak at TED twice.
Carter has appeared in, written, and produced many TV and radio programs. These include HBO's The Black List: Volume 2, American Public Media's Market Place, and PRX's This I Believe series. She has also hosted shows about urban sustainability on the Discovery Communications' Science Channel.
She has been in promotional videos and advertisements for companies like Cisco Systems, Frito-Lay, Intel, Holiday Inn, HSBC, Visa, Mazda, and Honda.
In 2014, Carter was the host of "Water Blues - Green Solutions." This documentary was about Green Infrastructure in American cities. In 2015, Carter acted in the movie Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep.
From 2007 to 2010, Carter co-hosted The Green, a TV show about the environment on the Sundance Channel.
In 2008, Carter helped produce the first episode of the public radio show, The Promised Land (radio). This show won a Peabody Award in 2010. However, it later stopped production due to a lack of funding.
Carter has also written articles about reducing heat in cities and air pollution. In 2022, her first book, Reclaiming Your Community: You Don't Have to Move Out of Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One, was released.
Consulting Work
After leaving Sustainable South Bronx, Carter became the president of her own consulting company, Majora Carter Group, LLC (MCG). In 2010, Fast Company magazine named her one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business." In 2014, MCG was recognized as one of the "Best for the World" companies.
FreshDirect Controversy
In 2012, Carter's company, MCG, worked with FreshDirect. This company delivers groceries. FreshDirect wanted to move its operations to the Harlem River Yards in the South Bronx. MCG helped FreshDirect connect with local groups.
Some community activists were against FreshDirect moving there. They said the city and FreshDirect did not properly study the environmental impact or talk enough with the community. A lawsuit and boycott campaign were started to stop the move. However, the lawsuits were dismissed. Sustainable South Bronx, the group Carter founded, also opposed FreshDirect's move.
Despite the opposition, local community boards and the city's Industrial Development Agency approved the move. The project began in 2014. A study later found that the new FreshDirect warehouse did increase truck and vehicle traffic, especially at night. This was a concern that activists had raised before the move.
Technology and Economy Inclusion
In 2007, while leading Sustainable South Bronx, Majora Carter brought Mobile fab lab (a mobile digital workshop) to the South Bronx. This was an early example of a maker space, where people can create things using technology.
In 2013, Carter joined the advisory board of the Bronx Academy of Software Engineering High School. In 2012, she co-founded StartUp Box #SouthBronx. This was a social business to help more diverse people get involved in the technology economy. She then launched StartUp Box #QA, a service that tests software quality. This service helped launch Mayor Bill DeBlasio's Digital.NYC in 2014.
StartUp Box won a pitch contest in 2015 and received valuable services. It also won awards in 2016 for its work in inclusion and innovation. Carter is also a co-founder of the Bronx Tech Meetup. She has been recognized as a "Silicon Alley 100" by BusinessInsider.com.
Awards and Honors
- 2024 Commendation for Outstanding Teaching, Princeton University
- 2020 Edmund N. Bacon Urban Design Award
- 2017 Visionary Leadership Award - Arts & Ideas
- 2016 MIT Inclusion Innovation Competition – Finalist
- 2016 Digital Diversity Network – Innovation & Inclusion Awards Honoree
- 2015 Blogher 2015 – Winner: Pitch Contest for StartUp Box Quality Assurance B2B Social Enterprise
- 2014 Augsburg College – Honorary PhD
- 2013 Middlebury College CSE Vision Award
- 2013 Honorary PhD: Wesleyan University
- 2011 Commencement speaker at Knox College
- 2010 Peabody Award for The Promised Land
- 2010 Star Award: International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
- 2009 Fellow: Post Carbon Institute
- 2009 Honor Award: Visionary in Sustainability, by the National Building Museum
- 2008 Named a "visionary" as one of Utne Reader magazine's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World"
- 2008 Appointed to America's Climate Choices: Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: National Academy of Sciences
- 2008 The Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal: Eleanor Roosevelt Society
- 2008 Hollister Award: United Nations Temple of Understanding
- 2008 Paul Wellstone Award: Campaign for America's Future
- 2007 Rachel Carson Award: National Audubon Society
- 2007 New York State Women of Excellence Award: Lt. Gov. David Paterson
- 2007 Honorary PhD: Mercy College
- 2007 Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Community Service: NYU
- 2007 Lawrence Enersen Award: National Arbor Day Society
- 2005 Fellow: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- 2002 Union Square Award: Fund for the City of New York
She is a Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities.
