Valorie Caffee
Executive Committee
NJ Environmental Justice Alliance
Valorie Caffee worked as WEC’s director of organizing
for 13 years, ending her service with the organization
in 2009. While employed by WEC, she launched WEC’s
Environmental Justice program. Along with WEC colleague
Theodore Carrington, she helped raise awareness about
and support for this critical issue by making presentations
at community and union meetings, meetings of other
environmental organizations, faith-based organizations,
conferences schools, and workshops around the state
and in other states as well. This work led to Valorie being
appointed as chair of the Environmental Justice Advisory
Council to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection,
a position she held from 2002 to 2016, and her co-
founding of the NJ Environmental Justice Alliance, NJEJA.
She was also appointed as co-chair of Gov-elect Corzine’s Environmental Policy Transition Team.
During her tenure with WEC, significant strides were made for environmental justice, including
the issuance of New Jersey’s first environmental justice executive order, passage of legislation to
reduce the emission of diesel exhaust from school buses and other public buses to decrease the
incidence of asthma and other pollution-related ailments; support by WEC for local EJ struggles; the
production of the state’s first-ever video focusing on EJ; among other accomplishments.
Valorie has never met an injustice she liked and has devoted her life to actively fighting for
social justice causes on many levels, including: serving as board member emerita with the NJ
Environmental Federation (now Clean Water Action); GreenFaith; Harambe Social Services, Inc.; as
VP of USW Local 1-149; as a member of the Ewing Township Green Team; as chair of the National
Racial Justice and Labor Committees of the National Organization for Women; and as president of
the NJ Anti-Apartheid Mobilization Coalition.
She was instrumental in raising awareness about the incidence of domestic violence in New Jersey
and throughout the country, which led to her becoming a co-founder of Womanspace, Mercer
County, NJ’s shelter and agency for the victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in
the ‘70s.
She is currently a workshop designer and presenter for the CARAT (Community Action and
Response Against Toxics) Team of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; VP, Ewing Park-Brae Burn
Civic Association; Executive Committee member, NJEJA; adjunct faculty, Beyond Diversity Resource
Center; among other organizations.
Valorie is also a social justice and environmental justice consultant. A graduate of Trenton State
College (now TCNJ), she resides in her hometown of Ewing, living once again on the same street on
which she grew up. She has mentored many high school and college students, and served as the
legal guardian of a South African girl while she attended high and college here. For nearly 20 years,
she has also supported children through PLAN. In her spare time, Valorie rescues cats.