Joanne Kilgour, Esq. is a Pennsylvania-based environmental lawyer and nonprofit professional with a passion for justice and democracy. Joanne most recently served as the Director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, where she stewarded the organization’s statewide operations and managed its lobbying and political program. Before joining the Sierra Club, Joanne had the opportunity to combine her legal background and passion for community-based advocacy into a position as the first Legal Director at the Center for Coalfield Justice (CCJ). At CCJ, she worked to infuse legal tools into grassroots organizing efforts, helping to support community members in the coalfields of southwestern Pennsylvania on matters related to underground mining, oil and gas development, and environmental justice.
Joanne received her undergraduate education at Carnegie Mellon University, where she served as a Fellow in Local Democracy through a partnership with the Coro Center for Civic Leadership and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Program for Deliberative Democracy. Earning her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Joanne was awarded a Certificate in Environmental, Law, Science, and Policy and worked in the school’s Environmental Law Clinic, where she learned client-centered counseling methods and provided legal services to clients who otherwise could not afford representation. During law school, Joanne also received the Thornburgh Prize for Legal Service to recognize her public interest work with communities in the coal and gas fields.
In addition, Joanne serves on the Board of Directors for Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania and as member of the Conservation and Natural Resources Advisory Council for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Joanne is motivated by a commitment to secure social, economic, and environmental policies that support communities while demanding long-term structural change.