Sharon Cayette Lavigne

Founder and Executive Director, RISE St. James Louisiana

St. James, LA 70086

2Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Member Concerned Citizens of St. John Member Poor People's Campaign with Reverend William Barber Member Hip Hop Caucus with Reverend Yearwood Member Climate Reality Project

Her Story

About Sharon

Sharon Cayette Lavigne is a lifelong educator and environmental justice advocate from St. James Parish, Louisiana. She spent 38 years working as a Special Education teacher in the local school system before transitioning into full-time community activism. Her commitment to education and service deeply shaped her understanding of her community’s needs, particularly as she began witnessing the growing health and environmental impacts of industrial pollution in her region.

In October 2018, after learning that Formosa Plastics planned to build a major petrochemical facility just two miles from her home, Lavigne co-founded Rise St. James. The grassroots, faith-based organization was created to challenge industrial expansion in “Cancer Alley” and to protect residents from the harmful effects of petrochemical development. Under her leadership, the group has focused on advocating for clean air and water, holding regulatory agencies accountable, and amplifying the voices of frontline communities affected by environmental injustice.

Lavigne’s activism has gained national and international recognition. She received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2021 for her leadership in environmental justice, and in 2024 she was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Through Rise St. James, she has helped delay the construction of the Formosa Plastics facility for years while raising global awareness of pollution in St. James Parish. A devoted mother and grandmother, she continues to lead with faith, resilience, and a deep commitment to protecting future generations.

Quick Facts

IndustryEnvironmental Justice / Nonprofit
Based inSt. James, LA
Specialty Industrial pollution prevention
- Environmental justice advocacy
- Community Organizing and Grassroots Leadership
Volunteers with Choir member at church

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Sharon

01What do you attribute your success to?

I give all my praise to God. God led me and he told me to fight. He wouldn't have put the fight in me if he didn't believe I could do it. So he trusted me to do this work, and I'm doing it because of him. When I think back, maybe after a year I got started, people told me I sound like my daddy, so my dad was in my spirit all that time. I remember what he used to always tell us - prayer changes things. He always told that to us, and I remembered that. And prayers have been changing things.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Don't give up. That's what people tell me, even though the fight is hard sometimes - don't give up. And I tell them I'm not gonna give up. I have no intention on giving up.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would tell them to gather all their information and get all their facts together. Because if you don't have your facts together and you go out there to speak about issues, they'll come down on you and tie you up so fast. They'll be waiting for you to screw up, so I would tell them to get their facts together. Pray about it first, get your facts together, and learn everything that you need to know about what you're going out there for. If you're going up against the politicians or the industries or whatever, you make sure you have all your facts together. It can be harsh, and they're looking for you to mess up.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

Stopping Formosa Plastics, a petrochemical plant from Taiwan that wants to be built 2 miles from my home. It's a chemical plant that was announced in April 2018, and when I found out it was going to be so close to my home, that's when I went to God and prayed, and that's when he told me to fight. For 8 years they've been talking about building, but because of us at Rise St. James, they haven't started construction yet. They purchased 2,400 acres of land, but they haven't put a slab down yet. We're fighting to prevent this plant from coming into our community and adding more pollution to an area that's already in the heart of Cancer Alley.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I value the lives of the people in my community. That's what my values are - protecting the people in my community and saving the environment from more harm that's already been done. For my personal life, getting even closer to God. I'm already close to him, but I want to get closer.

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