(Washington, D.C.): The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) is delighted to announce three new members have joined its Leadership Council: Stacey Halliday, Donna Mussio, and Vickie Patton. “We are so fortunate to have these outstanding women join the ranks of our Leadership Council,” said ELI Leadership Council President Kathy Robb. “ELI’s vision is a healthy environment, prosperous economies, and vibrant communities founded on the rule of law. As esteemed thought-leaders in the field of environmental law and policy, the newest members of our Leadership Council will bring valuable guidance and expertise to ELI as they make law work for people, places, and the planet.”
- Stacey Halliday is Principal at Beveridge & Diamond, and a shareholder in the firm’s environmental regulatory practice group. She counsels Beveridge & Diamond's clients on a variety of diverse matters including: social corporate responsibility strategy, sustainability reporting, and environmental justice policy implementation; global product stewardship, including electronics right to repair, planned obsolescence, and transboundary movement of used electronics; and internal investigations and U.S. environmental enforcement (including court-appointed monitorships). Stacey first joined Beveridge & Diamond in 2012 and rejoined the firm in February 2017, following her political appointment as Special Counsel in the EPA's Office of General Counsel (OGC). Stacey is also serves as Board Member of the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and Steering Committee Chair of ELI’s Emerging Leader’s Initiative; ABA Vice Chair for Environmental Justice/Just Transition for the Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Ecosystems Committee; ABA SEER Co-Chair of the Membership Diversity Enhancement Program; and Member of the Environmental Justice Resolution Task Force. Stacey earned her J.D. from Howard Law School and her A.B. from Harvard University.
- Donna Mussio has been an environmental transactional attorney for over 25 years and is head of the Environmental Practice Group at Fried Frank. Donna has a diversified transactional environmental practice involving mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, public securities offerings, financings, real estate and bankruptcy. In addition, she is a member of Fried Frank’s ESG Group and provides advice with respect to sustainability matters. Chambers USA recognized Donna as a leading individual in the "Environmental: Mainly Transactional" New York category. Donna serves as Co-Chair of the Environmental Business Transactions Committee of the Environmental & Energy Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. She formerly served as Co-Chair of the Environmental Disclosure Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources and was a member of the 2021 Environmental Editorial Advisory Board of Law360. Donna earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School, and she earned her M.A. and B.A. from Duke University.
- Vickie Patton serves as Environmental Defense Fund's General Counsel and leads its Legal and Regulatory initiatives. For over thirty years, she has worked with partners to secure national and state protections addressing climate and air pollution, participated in numerous successful climate and clean air cases to protect human health and the environment, and testified before congressional and state legislative committees. Prior to EDF, she served in the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of General Counsel where she implemented the historic 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and received the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service. She has received the Air & Waste Management Association's Richard Beatty Mellon Environmental Stewardship Award, the Wirth Chair Award for Creative Collaborations in Sustainability, and the Healthy Community Award received from her local health department for her efforts to address mercury air pollution. Vickie is a co-founder of Moms Clean Air Force, serves on the Boards of the Environmental Law Institute, Earthshot, and the Initiative on Climate Risk and Resilience Law, and in 2013 was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.
The ELI Leadership Council is the Institute’s group for the most prominent environment, energy, and natural resource leaders in the nation. The Council recognizes leaders for their commitment of resources and time to the Institute’s vision of a healthy environment, prosperous economies, and vibrant communities founded on the rule of law. Members participate in events and have a chance to network and engage other leaders in discussions about key environmental law and policy issues.