Brooks Rainey Pearson
Legislative Counsel
As the SELC lobbyist to the North Carolina General Assembly, Brooks promotes legislation to support SELC’s policy goals and works to stop or weaken environmentally harmful legislation. Brooks serves as a liaison between SELC’s attorneys and executive branch boards, commissions, and state agencies.
“I am incredibly proud of SELC’s dedication to making environmental justice a central issue for our work,” said Brooks, who grew up in Franklin, Va., a tiny paper mill town near the Great Dismal Swamp. “For me, the sweet spot of this work is at the intersection of social justice and environmentalism.”
When I graduated from law school my plan was to apply to SELC every time there was an opening until they gave up and let me work here. Luckily it only took once!
Brooks Rainey Pearson
Brooks lives with her family in Durham, on the edge of Duke Forest. Brooks says her “happy place” is a little-known spot she’s keeping secret on the Outer Banks of North Carolina that she discovered when she lived there for six years. “The tourists for the most part are oblivious to this spot, and the landscape feels like something from another planet,” she says. “I let the dogs off leash, hand the children a kite, and watch the joy unfold.”
Previous Experience
- Duke University, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, fellow
- J.D., University of North Carolina School of Law
- M.S., University of North Carolina, Master of City and Regional Planning
- B.A., University of North Carolina with high honors
- With SELC since 2012