Hello! I’m Marquelle Ogletree (she/her) the new DC Conservation Advocate at Nature Forward. I’m excited to carry forward the work of Jamoni Overby on emergency preparedness, clean water, and environmental justice across DC.
I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, where I began advocating for environmental, climate, and social justice in my community. I often visited family members in the DC-Metro region for holidays growing up and am excited to have called this area home for a year and a half.
I first took interest in environmental and climate issues around 2016, after experiencing multiple hurricane threats to the north Florida panhandle. After learning how climate change intensifies storms, I realized it was necessary to address climate impacts and better prepare people ahead of storms. The first time my family experienced a landfall hurricane we were not as prepared as we could have been. Additionally, our neighbors experienced stress, displacement, and mental health challenges from the disruption of disasters; but with planning and preparation, my family and my community were able to better weather each hurricane.
My work addressing worsening hurricanes went beyond emergency preparedness. I joined youth in my hometown to draft a Climate Emergency Declaration and gave public testimony encouraging local officials to acknowledge the climate crisis, commit to phasing out fossil fuels, and enhance its climate resilience measures. After many meetings advocating to elected officials, our county passed a resolution declaring a climate emergency, with commitments to support community resilience.
I graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s in Sociology, concentrating in environmental justice, and a minor in Spanish. I was stunned by the amount of environmental harms communities face at the hands of powerful companies, and the lack of government accountability. I got to learn more about environmental issues through hands-on experience while studying abroad in Belize and during a service experience in Puerto Rico.
I am excited to bring all my experiences in advocacy, policy, community engagement, and dialogue to environmental justice work across DC, amplifying community voices through their stories and lived experiences, while keeping in mind connections to public health, food systems, emergency preparedness, and development. Nature can be healing, and I want to ensure people of all identities can safely enjoy the built and natural environment around them, nourishing the whole self without concern of any harm.
In my free time, you can find me hiking trails, checking out museum exhibits to learn about history and view artwork, collaging, modeling for editorial projects, puzzling, and soaking up the sun like a lizard. I look forward to working in community with you, please reach out to me if you want to connect!