Chloe Allen

Associate Attorney

Chloe came to SELC as the recipient of Vanderbilt Law School’s George Barrett Social Justice Fellowship. She works primarily with the Environmental Justice, Air, and Energy teams to support staff and senior attorneys. She is involved with legal research and writing, cite-checking, completing public records requests, and meeting with community members.

“I went to law school because I wanted to develop skills that would let me make a difference in my community, and I always hoped to work in the environmental sphere,” Chloe said. “SELC’s place-based approach to advocacy and its environmental justice focus makes the work meaningful, exciting, and a source of hope. The South is my home, and our communities deserve clean air, water, and land instead of being dismissed or overlooked.” 

Chloe has seen a lot of the U.S. Originally from Sanibel, Fla., she now lives in Nashville. She has been a National Park Service guide in Washington state and Virginia and worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the General Counsel’s Juneau Field Office.

A favorite spot in the Southeast is Window Cliffs State Natural Area in Putnam County, Tennessee, where she loves to hike in the summer. “It’s a beautiful example of Tennessee’s incredible geology, has tons of waterfalls and gentle stream crossings, and is a great place to look for fossils—and leave them for the next visitor to find,” she said.

At SELC, she is “most proud of our work in Memphis with a coalition of environmental justice-focused organizations. Speaking with community members reminds me every day of how important the work is, and I learn something new from local advocates with every conversation.”

• J.D., Vanderbilt University Law School
• B.A., Vanderbilt University