Hey y’all, my name is Atia Bailey!
I will be joining Nature Forward this year as a Maryland Data Center Intern and I am so excited to contribute to the Conservation Team’s work! My role as a research and outreach intern is to stay aware of current and upcoming data center policy and to educate community members through blog posts, action alerts, and community engagement events. Right now, I am helping to review legislation that will be introduced to the Maryland legislature this session and preparing for Lobby Day in March! Sign up for that here!
I graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia in 2023 where I double majored in Sociology and Law & Public Policy. As a student, I founded the university’s first non-partisan voter engagement coalition called Mercer Votes. I used voter demographic data to target students with lower turnout rates and partnered with other student organizations and non-profits to carry out voter education, facilitate absentee voting, and empower students of diverse backgrounds to vote. When I graduated, I continued in my community advocacy as a canvasser and environmental engagement fellow for the New Georgia Project and Mi Familia Vota, where I also had the opportunity to lobby state representatives to advocate for an environmental justice bill.
I moved to Washington, D.C. in 2024 to attend the Mecca, Howard University School of Law, where I discovered my passion for environmental advocacy. I was first exposed to environmental justice law as a member of the Howard-Drexel Clean Energy Justice Collective, where I worked on an interdisciplinary team to imagine solutions to energy injustice issues. I also serve as a research assistant for the Environmental and Climate Justice Center under Charles Lee, with a focus on the cumulative impacts of environmental factors on human health. I further explored this topic by researching the potential air quality impacts of the proposed data center, Bright seat Tech Park, in PG county. The gravity and exigency of these environmental impacts and the possible health outcomes motivate me to work steadfast in this work and I look forward to further pushing for data center regulation reform in Maryland.
Outside of my advocacy and education, I love to spend time with my friends and family and to express myself creatively. Whether I am convincing my family to dance with me, dressing my dog up in different outfits, yapping with my friends, or designing clothes, there is always laughter and joy emanating from the room.
My personal philosophy is that everyone deserves the opportunity to live a life that affords them the opportunity to explore, learn, and create a better world. I want to accomplish that by ensuring that policy puts people first, so if you come across any data center legislation in Maryland that you believe our team should check out, email me at [email protected] and sign up for action alerts here to stay updated on our future projects!