Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of Advancement Project, will join Friends of the Earth’s Board of Directors, the Board proudly announced Monday.“I am deeply honored that someone of Judith’s extraordinary achievements in the fight for equal rights is joining FOE’s fight for a just and healthy world,” said Arlie Schardt, Chairman of the Board at Friends of the Earth. “Judith’s relentless leadership in the battle against voter suppression is indispensable if any of our causes are to prevail, whether they be a clean, healthy environment, racial justice, women’s rights or countless others.”Dianis is the Executive Director of Advancement Project, a Washington, D.C.-based multi-racial civil rights organization known for its pioneering, grassroots work to end the school-to-prison pipeline. Most recently, Advancement Project has challenged the growing trend of public school closures and privatization in communities of color.“It’s a great honor to have Judith join the Board of Friends of the Earth,” said Erich Pica, President of Friends of the Earth. “Her advocacy for civil rights will help Friends of the Earth fulfill our mission to champion a healthy and just world. I look forward to her guidance and leadership as we continue to strengthen both environmental and social justice advocacy.”Dianis joined Advancement Project at its inception in 1999 after serving as the Managing Attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. A graduate of Columbia University School of Law, she was awarded a Skadden Fellowship, served as a Tobias Simon Eminent Scholar at Florida State University Law School and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center.“I am excited to join the Board of Friends of the Earth at such an important time,” said Dianis. “The organization’s staunch advocacy to protect our planet is vital in this moment when policymakers want to scrap environmental protections. I look forward to supporting Friends of the Earth’s cross-movement work that recognizes that we must build a more just society for people and our planet.”“It is long past time for these two great movements — civil rights and environmental protection — to join forces, especially today when our national government is hell-bent on shredding every hard-won gain of the past five decades,” said Schardt. “We look forward to Judith’s inspiration and wise counsel at Friends of the Earth for many years to come.”Dianis has joined the board effective immediately, and will serve a three-year term.