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Biography for Michelle J. DePass, Assistant Administrator
Michelle DePass was confirmed by the Senate as the Assistant Administrator, Office of International Affairs (OIA), on April 28, 2009. DePass comes to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after serving as an Environment and Community Development Program Officer at the Ford Foundation. As Program Officer, she was responsible for supporting the development of sound environmental policies and practices in the local, national and international arenas. As Assistant Administrator, she leads EPA's international program and is responsible for the full range of EPA's international environmental policy development and program implementation. In this capacity, DePass represents the EPA within the United States government and before foreign governments and international organizations on matters relating to environmental foreign affairs.
DePass is a lawyer, public administrator and policy analyst who has worked with environmental and human and civil rights organizations, academic institutions, and labor. She has also worked in all levels of government, including city, state, and federal. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University, her law degree from Fordham University School of Law, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Baruch College School of Public Affairs.
Before her time at the Ford Foundation, DePass taught federal environmental law and policy at the City University of New York, and developed a job training program for aspiring youth in conjunction with the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. She also served as Executive Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. As Executive Director, she was an advocate to local communities and community organizations in environmental policy negotiations. DePass obtained experience in the regulatory realm as an environmental manager of the City of San Jose. She went on to practice law with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York as a William Kunstler Racial Justice Fellow. DePass then returned to government as a Senior Policy Advisor at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).
DePass was born in Queens, New York. She is the daughter of Rupert and Marsyl DePass from Jamaica, West Indies, and married to Joshua Paulson.
