Montina Cole, Principal and Founder of Jai Green Consulting, works at the intersections of integrated climate policy, racial equity and resilience, providing clients with holistic tools and solutions for sustainability. She returned to Jai Green Consulting after serving as the first Senior Counsel for Environmental Justice and Equity at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where she led the unprecedented initiative to integrate environmental justice and equity into the agency’s work, including creation of the agency’s first Equity Action Plan. Cole is also an Open Society Foundations Leadership in Government Fellow. Prior to founding Jai Green Consulting, Cole was a Senior Attorney in the Climate & Clean Energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), where she led the gas pipeline policy advocacy work and helped lead the initiative to incorporate racial equity considerations into the organization’s advocacy work across all programs.
Before joining NRDC, Cole spent almost 20 years practicing energy law in corporate law firms, representing a wide variety of clients and concentrating on electricity industry regulation. She represented clients before the FERC, Securities and Exchange Commission, courts, state and local regulators, and on Capitol Hill. She has also served as Special Counsel to the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she was a political appointee, and on the staff of former U.S. Representative Jim Slattery.
Cole is a frequent speaker on various topics including environmental justice, equity and climate policy. She is a co-author of the 2020 Unimplemented Development Synthesis Workshop Report, How is the World Shaped by Infrastructure Projects That Have Been Cancelled or Stalled?
Cole is also a student and teacher of applying the ancient wisdom of Yoga to modern day challenges, including environmental issues. She has been practicing Integral Yoga since 2003, and is certified to teach Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Meditation, and Stress Management. She is a past fellow in the GreenFaith Fellowship Program for religiously based environmental leadership.
Cole received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served on the Senior Editorial Board of the Journal of Law and Politics, and was a founding member of the Coalition for Diversity. She graduated from Washburn University, where she received her B.A. in political science, cum laude, with University and Departmental honors. She is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia and in Pennsylvania. Cole currently serves on the Board of Directors of EduSeed, and the Climate Equity Foundation.