Jacob Burney

Jacob Burney
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Division Director, Environmental Justice Grants Division

Jacob Burney is the Director of the Grants Management Division of the Office of Community Support in the EPA's Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. This office facilitates the distribution in grant funding, including more than $50 million in grant funding from the FY2022 appropriations, to community-based organizations and their partners at the tribal, state, and local levels. In addition, the office will offer technical assistance to community organizations and others to plan for the future, effectively compete for federal and other sources of funding, and sustainably implement funding to revitalize their communities.

Since joining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2011, Jacob Burney has worked his entire EPA career in the EPA grants space.  Beginning with the Office of Grants & Debarment (OGD) in 2011, Jacob served as a grants specialist for several years before transitioning over to the Environmental Justice (EJ) program in 2015 to serve as the EJ grants program manager.  Jacob’s responsibilities with the EJ program have included: leading the development of all EJ grant opportunities and solicitations, coordinating training opportunities for hundreds of EJ grant applicants and grantees, and managing the review and awarding process for all EJ grants.  

Additionally, Jacob has focused on increasing applicant accessibility to the EJ grants programs, improving sustainability of EJ grant projects, and promoting the program’s outreach to rural and remote areas of the country.  Currently, Jacob serves as the Division Director for the Grants Management Division in the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.  Prior to his work at EPA, Jacob served as a Peace Corps volunteer (2007 – 2010) first in Western Samoa, where he worked in village development and grants.  He followed this with additional service in China, where Jacob worked at a medical college in the Sichuan province teaching English as a second language.