Biography
Advocate
Samia Shell is an Environmental Justice and Human Rights Advocate from the United States. Samia's advocacy journey began as a high school student working on permaculture farms and urban food justice projects. Her experience serving fresh produce in food deserts curated her understanding of structural inequities that impact marginalized groups' access to the environment.
During her undergraduate program, Samia studied environmental science while taking her first environmental law course. This course inspired her interest in pursuing advocacy and a career at the intersection of law, policy, and environment. She then obtained environmental policy roles at the New York State Office of the Attorney General Environmental Protection Bureau and at the United States Agency for International Development.
In 2020, Samia discovered the global campaign for universal recognition of the human right to a healthy environment. She began passionately supporting the global campaign by organizing, moderating, and delivering interventions for numerous events on the roles of youth, civil society, governments, lawyers, and businesses in recognizing and implementing right to a healthy environment. She also served as an intergenerational advisor on children and youth's rights to a healthy environment and provided recommendations to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding the right to a healthy environment.
Recognizing Samia's work on the right to a healthy environment campaign, Samia was invited to serve as a Policy/Media Advisor to
the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Vanuatu to the United Nations on its campaign to petition the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on climate change.
Samia's legal experiences and commitment to public service brought about the opportunity to serve as a White House Law Clerk for the Biden-Harris Administration during the summer of 2023.
Attorney
Samia received her J.D. cum laude from St. John’s University School of Law in New York City. She received a full merit scholarship as Ron Brown Scholar. While in law school she pursued coursework in International Law, International Environmental Law, International Trade Law, Administrative Law, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties, and other topics.
She was a Senior Staff Member of the New York International Law Review. Samia received the Dean's Award for Excellence in International Legal Writing and Research for her note on the implications of the human right to a healthy environment for the ongoing request to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on climate change.
Samia was involved in several capacities during her law school tenure. She has served as a Student Mentor and in leadership roles with St. John's Environmental Law Society and Coalition for Social Justice.
Samia graduated summa cum laude from St. John’s University with a B.S. in Environmental Science and a concentration in French in just three years. During her undergraduate years, Samia studied abroad in China and Paris.
While in China, Samia studied the Chinese rice industry, Chinese environmental laws and policies, and sustainability frameworks. While in Paris, Samia lived in a homestay, worked at an agritech startup company at Station F, and took French art and culture courses at the St. John's Paris campus.
Model
Samia is a fashion and beauty model based in New York City. She was discovered in 2020 by FeW Models and has been pursuing her modeling career ever since.
Modeling has given Samia a platform to amplify her brand, visually demonstrating to the world who she is, why she pursues her passions, and what she stands for. Ultimately, her goal is to impact the modeling industry as a multifaceted, respected, and authentic face and advocate in fashion, beauty, partnerships, and beyond.
In 2022, Samia became the international face for the launch of Maybelline’s sustainable makeup line, “Maybelline Green.” She saw her audience broadly engage and support this campaign. She has also appeared in other beauty campaigns and on the Koche pre-fall 2021 runway.
Samia is also represented in Barcelona, Spain.
Multilingual
Samia studied French for 8 years and is fully fluent in speaking, reading, and writing. She studied Russian for 3 years, Korean for 1 year, and Mandarin for 1 year. She is a recipient of the inaugural Black China Caucus Chinese Language Scholarship.