Heather McTeer Toney is an American politician, environmentalist, attorney, and civil servant. In 2014, Toney was appointed as a regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Southeast region by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. Prior to this, Toney served as the first woman and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to serve as mayor of

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. Hi ...

, a position she held from 2004 to 2011.

Early life and education

Toney was born to Victor McTeer, a civil rights attorney, and Mercidees "Dee Dee" McTeer, a public school teacher, in

, where she was raised. Victor McTeer was one of the first African Americans to attend

Western Maryland College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the college. ...

(now

McDaniel College McDaniel College is a private college in Westminster, Maryland. Established in 1867, it was known as Western Maryland College until 2002 when it was renamed McDaniel College in honor of an alumnus who gave a lifetime of service to the college. ...

) and, after graduating from

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

in 1972, returned to his home state of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

to practice law. After high school, Toney attended

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman re ...

, where she became a member of the

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

sorority, receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology. Following the completion of her undergraduate education, Toney attended

Tulane University Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. In addition to the usual common ...

, where she received her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

Career

During her legal career, she primarily handled

employment discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, g ...

and

medical malpractice Medical malpractice is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, deviates from standards in their profession, thereby causing injury or death to a patient. The negligen ...

cases.

Mayor of Greenville

In 2004, Toney became the first woman, first African American, and youngest person to serve as mayor of Greenville defeating Democratic incumbent mayor Paul Artman Jr. in the primary and then independent DeWitt "Buddy" Tucker with 4,393 votes compared to 393 for Tucker in the December 8, 2003 general election. Located in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...

, the poverty rate of Greenville is almost three times the national average. During her tenure as mayor, she was credited with helping the city resolve its debt crisis. Toney is a past president of the

National Conference of Black Mayors The National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) was incorporated in 1974 and was originally organized as the Southern Conference of Black Mayors (SCBM) forty years ago. The thirteen mayors who founded the group were elected after the enactment o ...

. As mayor, she prioritized environmental issues, specifically with regards to protecting the local water supply. She did not seek reelection in the December 2011 election instead deciding to run for Mississippi's 2nd District congressional seat in the November 2012 election. She was succeeded by Chuck Jordan who defeated Carl McGee. She was defeated by

Bennie Thompson Bennie Gordon Thompson (born January 28, 1948) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Thompson has been the chair of the Committee on Homeland Security since 2019 and from ...

in the March 2012 Democratic primary for

Mississippi's 2nd congressional district Mississippi's 2nd congressional district (MS-2) covers much of Western Mississippi. It includes most of Jackson, the riverfront cities of Greenville and Vicksburg and the interior market cities of Clarksdale, Greenwood and Clinton. The distr ...

seat.

EPA

In 2009, Toney was nominated by then-EPA Administrator

Lisa P. Jackson Lisa Perez Jackson (born February 8, 1962) is an American chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position. B ...

to serve as chairwoman of the EPA's Local Government Advisory Committee. Jackson was impressed by Toney's work combatting water pollution in Greenville. In 2014, Toney was nominated by President Obama to serve as Regional EPA Administrator for Region 4, consisting of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and six tribal nations. Region 4 has been referred to as a "historically troubled" region plagued by " energy apartheid," and the promotion of former Regional Administrator Gwen Keyes Fleming to the position of EPA Chief of Staff led to the position being vacant for a time prior to Toney's appointment. Toney has been mentioned as a potential future

administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other enviro ...

Environmental justice

Since leaving the EPA in 2017, Toney has involved herself in

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...

organizing. Toney is the national field director for

Moms Clean Air Force Moms Clean Air Force is a nonprofit, grassroots environmentalism, environmental advocacy group, based in the United States, which focuses on protecting children from air pollution. It has chapters in 26 states and more than a million members, an ...

, which focuses on combatting

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

. In 2019, Toney authored an op-ed for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' where she argued that the need to combat climate change and protect the environment is a racial justice issue. Toney has criticized the mainstream

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

for ignoring the concerns of communities of color.

Personal life

Toney is married to Dexter Toney and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toney, Heather McTeer 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Mississippi Democrats Alpha Kappa Alpha members American environmentalists Living people People from Greenville, Mississippi African-American mayors in Mississippi Women mayors of places in Mississippi 21st-century mayors of populated places in the United States People of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Spelman College alumni Tulane University Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) African-American women mayors