Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps Fellow Joins First Lady at State of the Union Address

The White House announced today Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Climate Corps fellow Tyrone Davis will join First Lady Michelle Obama at tonight’s 2014 State of the Union. The White House invited Davis to join a small group of individuals that “represent the stories of millions of Americans across the country, who are working hard to better their communities, improve their own economic outcomes and help restore opportunity for all.”

Tyrone Davis, from Winston-Salem, NC, has been legally blind since the age of nine. His passion for the environment led Davis to complete a master’s degree in public administration with a focus on energy, which prepared him for a fellowship with EDF Climate Corps.

EDF Climate Corps is Environmental Defense Fund’s innovative summer fellowship program that trains and embeds top-tier graduate students in companies, cities and universities to implement smart energy management strategies that save money and protect the environment.

Davis completed his EDF Climate Corps fellowship with Elizabeth City State University, a historically black university. He showed the school how to achieve savings of more than $31,000 a year, resulting in nearly 200 tons of carbon emissions reductions annually. His work was so impactful, that the school decided to make sustainability a core part of its mission just one month after his fellowship. Davis is now a third-year student and Leadership Fellow at Elon University School of Law.

Davis’s invitation to the State of the Union shows a continued commitment from the White House to keep environmental issues on the forefront of national conversation.

“Tyrone Davis is an inspiration, and I am so happy to see his hard work and dedication rewarded with this incredible honor,” said EDF President Fred Krupp. “All of us at EDF are honored, too, that the President and First Lady are recognizing our EDF Climate Corps program. President Obama is steering the country toward a healthier, safer clean energy future with his Climate Action Plan. That plan calls for the kind of innovative thinking that EDF Climate Corps embodies. We are proud of our efforts to train tomorrow’s leaders to be business savvy environmental stewards, and we are proud of all the brilliant young people who have worked in EDF Climate Corps. I’ll be looking for Tyrone Davis while I watch the speech tonight.”

Learn more about EDF Climate Corps and Tyrone Davis here.  Learn more about First Lady Michelle Obama’s guests at the 2014 State of the Union Address here.