Elizabeth Amira Streeter ’09
Elizabeth Amira Streeter ’09 is senior government affairs and community engagement manager at Voltera, a company that builds infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles and operates electric vehicle charging facilities.
A lawyer and environmentalist, Streeter has an extensive background in public policy,
working for environmental nonprofits, law firms, private consulting organizations,
and government agencies. Before her role at Voltera, she served as policy advisor
for natural resources and then as a policy advisor on climate, energy, and transportation
in the Oregon Governor’s Office for then-Gov. Kate Brown.
Streeter also worked for Commissioner Nick Fish in the city of Portland, focusing on policy involving the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup, housing, criminal justice reform, and public arts and culture. She also was a legislative assistant for Oregon Rep. Lew Frederick and an environmental prosecution clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In 2020, Streeter received the Oregon Women of Achievement Award for her instrumental work in environmental justice. She has been involved with various environmental organizations over the years, including the Sierra Club Oregon Chapter and Oregon Environmental Council. She currently serves on various policy committees and organizations, including as president-elect of City Club of Portland, a civics nonprofit.
Born in Washington, D.C., to parents who were both foreign service officers, Streeter traveled the world— Russia, Indonesia, China, India, Nigeria, and Germany — with her mother, who inspired her to go into public policy.
At Skidmore, she double-majored in environmental studies-science and dance, starting out as a pre-med student. But after taking an environmental sciences class taught by Karen Kellogg, she switched majors, and after reading books like Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and Wangari Maathai’s “Unbowed: A Memoir,” she knew she wanted to pursue environmental policy.
“All the scientific data in the world won't make a difference unless we support and promote it,” says Streeter, who moved to Portland in 2010 to attend Lewis & Clark Law School, where she earned her law degree and certificate in environmental and natural resources law.
Also immersing herself in classes, summer intensives, and dance clubs at Skidmore, Streeter was regularly featured in Terpsichore performances and co-founded the hip-hop and breakdance student club Thoroughbred Dance Starz (renamed Breakbeats).
“Skidmore allowed me to exercise both sides of my brain freely and without restrictions,” she says, “and I still appreciate that.”
