Lisa Payne Wansley

Lisa Payne Wansley is the Senior Vice President for Environmental Justice, Community Affairs and Legislative Relations at the New York Power Authority (NYPA). She manages the teams that work with communities across New York and forge relationships that are critical to creating a clean energy future for all New Yorkers. Lisa is also a member of NYPA’s Executive Management Committee.

Upon joining NYPA in 2016, Lisa implemented a progressive, statewide Environmental Justice (EJ) program which has developed innovative STEM education programs for K-12 students, energy industry career readiness workshops for high school and college students, Adult Energy Literacy programming and community-based Energy Services projects.

In 2020, Lisa worked in conjunction with the Office of Civil Rights & Inclusion and Supplier Diversity in shaping NYPA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program. This included the launch of three strategic STEM education initiatives: Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH), Future Energy Leaders Scholarship, and the EJ Community Volunteer Corps. 

Prior to NYPA, Lisa was with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office for 21 years where she was the Director of Community Affairs and Administrative Chief to the District Attorney. Lisa was appointed by Governor Mario M. Cuomo 1982 to serve as the administration’s Bronx Regional Representative.  She also served on the New York State Juvenile Justice Advisory Board at the request of Governor David Patterson in 2008. 

Lisa was also an Adjunct Professor of Communications at the College of New Rochelle and Bronx Community College. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Dayton and a Master of Arts in Public Communications from Fordham University.