Debbie Chizewer
Debbie launched the Midwest office of Earthjustice, a national non-profit environmental law organization. She and her team litigate and advocate to fight climate change, protect the health of communities, and preserve wild lands and wildlife. Her work includes representation of Tribal Nations in the multi-faceted fight against the risky Line 5 oil pipeline and litigation on behalf of Black, low-income communities facing disproportionate environmental harms from air and water pollution.
Over the past three decades, Debbie’s environmental legal work has spanned many pressing issues—fighting for environmental justice in the Midwest at Northwestern Law’s environmental law clinic, promoting Great Lakes health at the Alliance for the Great Lakes, and protecting wildlife and public lands in the Rockies for the National Wildlife Federation. In her academic roles at Northwestern Law and Chicago-Kent College of Law, Debbie also taught several environmental law classes.
She also served on the boards of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law and the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business’s Environmental Management Program.