Speaker / Activist/ Pastor/ Consultant
BIOgraphy
Rev. Mariama was born and raised in Boston and began her community engagement in high school, mostly pointedly with Project HIP-HOP (Highways Into the Past - History, Organizing and Power), a youth organization focused on teaching the history of the Civil Rights Movement and engaging a new generation of young people in activism. After college, she became the Executive Director of Project HIP-HOP, where she served for 13 years. In 2017, she graduated with her Master of Divinity at the Boston University School of Theology and was ordained an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 2018, she founded New Roots AME Church in Dorchester where she currently pastors.
Rev. Mariama White-Hammond was appointed as Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space in April 2021. In this role, she oversees policy and programs on energy, climate change, sustainability, historic preservation, and open space. Over the course of her time with the City, she has supported the amendment of the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) to set carbon targets for existing large buildings and convened a city-led green jobs program.
Rev. Mariama uses an intersectional lens in her ecological work, challenging folks to see the connections between immigration and climate change or the relationship between energy policy and economic justice. She has received numerous awards, including the Barr Fellowship, the Celtics Heroes Among Us, The Roxbury Founders Day Award and the Boston NAACP Image award. She was selected as one of the Grist 50 Fixers for 2019 and Sojourners 11 Women Shaping the Church.
Fellowships & Awards
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Sojourners 11 Women Shaping the Church
GRIST Fixers for 2019
Barr Nonprofit Leadership Fellow 2009-2011
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Drylongso Award for anti-racism work, Community Change, 2006
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Giver the Community Award, Union of Minority Neighborhoods, 2005
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Boston Celtics “Heroes Among Us” (for work w/ Fenway High School students), 2004
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City-to-City Leadership Exchange to Ireland, San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia, 1999-2003
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No Ordinary Time Spiritual Leadership Fellow, 2003
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Channel 56 Unsung Hero, 2003
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Emerging Leaders Fellowship, 2002
Work​
Experience​
2020- Present
Co-Chair RENEW New England
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10/2017- Present
Founding Pastor of New Roots AME Church
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04/2017 – Present
Green Justice Coalition, Fellow
01/2017 – 01/2018
Bethel AME Church, Interim Youth Pastor
12/2010 – 08/2012
Bethel AME Church, Interim Youth Pastor
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09/2001 - 06/2014
Project HIP-HOP, Executive Director
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06/2001 – 08/2001
College Track, Drama, Dance & Music Teacher
10/1997 – 06/2001
College Track, Tutor
06/2000 – 08/2000
ABCD, Youth Supervisor & Literacy Coach
09/1996 – 07/1997
Ten Point Coalition/ Bethel AME Church, Admin Assistant
Education
2014 – 2017
Boston University School of Theology MDiv in Global and Community Engagement
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1997 - 2001
Stanford University Major in International Relations (focus on Latin America)
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1992 – 1996
Winsor School