Judith Enck, President (she/her)

Judith Enck founded Beyond Plastics in 2019 to end plastic pollution through education, advocacy, organizing, and institutional change.

Passionate about protecting public health and the environment, Judith teaches the nation’s first class on plastic pollution as a professor at Bennington College, where more than 1,000 students have taken her course. She was recently a Visiting Scholar at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.

Judith has held top influential positions in state and federal government. Appointed by President Obama, she served as the Regional Administrator (Region 2) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, managing a staff of 800 and a $700M budget.

Previously, Judith served as Deputy Secretary for the Environment in the New York Governor’s Office, and Policy Advisor to the New York State Attorney General. She was Senior Environmental Associate with the New York Public Interest Research Group, served as Executive Director for Environmental Advocates of New York and the Non-Profit Resource Center, and is a past President of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.

In December 2025, Judith became a first-time author with The Problem with Plastic, which she co-wrote with journalist Adam Mahoney. The book, named an Amazon Editor’s December 2025 pick for best nonfiction and will be in paperback in fall 2026.

A dynamic community advocate who has spent her expansive career working to protect public health and the environment, Judith is leading the fight and framing the narrative about the harms of plastic pollution on human health and the planet.

Judith is a panelist on a local NPR public affairs radio show, lives with her family in upstate New York and reports that she has no hobbies but has flirted with cake decorating.