From Campus to Community: Inside Spelman’s Growing Sustainability Initiative 

Spelman’s Sustainability Coordinator Details the Impact and Efficacy of Sustainability Spelman with Drawdown GA 

Under President Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s leadership, Spelman College became one of the first HBCUs to develop a climate action plan to reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions through the creation of its Sustainability Spelman Initiative. Sustainability Spelman aims to create a culture of climate neutrality by reducing the campus wide ecological footprint and promoting sustainability.   

Recently, Drawdown GA, a statewide initiative working to catalyze a Georgia beyond carbon, interviewed Spelman’s sustainability coordinator Iesha Baldwin to understand how much the initiative has evolved and impacted sustainability on campus. 

In the interview, Baldwin shared that Spelman’s initiatives range from energy efficiency to food waste reduction. The success of these initiatives is rooted in Spelman’s strong foundation of leadership support. The Sustainability Spelman initiatives include: 

• Building improvements and energy efficiency, supported by external partners and campus-wide assessments 
• Food waste reduction and composting, integrated into dining services and event operations 
• Student training in the built environment, helping prepare the next generation of facilities, energy, and sustainability professionals 
• Community engagement and storytelling, ensuring operational wins are visible and understood 

Spelman's sustainability progress has resulted in receiving support beyond the campus. The current updated version of the climate action plan includes resources and partnerships with organizations such as Southface and Sustain Our Future.  

At Spelman, sustainability isn’t an afterthought, it's foundational,” Baldwin said in the interview. 

Watch the full interview here.