Atenas Mena

Atenas Isabel Mena was born and raised in Kansas City and is a proud first generation Mexican American. Ms. Mena received her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Avila University in 2014 and went on to receive her Master’s in Nursing Leadership from Missouri Western State University in 2019. In addition to working as a nurse, Ms. Mena received extensive environmental health training in the field, working with the Children’s Mercy environmental health team, as both an educator and a team coordinator. She was part of the first cohort of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments to support local environmental justice work. Ms. Mena worked continuously throughout the last few years with CleanAirNow through boots on the ground projects, served as a Board of Directors, and in the start of 2022, transitioned into the current leadership role as Environmental Health Director and Co-Executive Director for CleanAirNow. She centers her work in addressing health inequities, supporting sustainable community-led research/projects/decision-making, and advocating for the equal right and protection of clean air, water and land for all to live in healthy neighborhoods.