Monica Miles receives Arthur O. Eve Education and Community Service Award
Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (left) presents the Arthur O. Eve Education and Community Service Award to Monica Miles (right).
Published May 5, 2025
Adapted from an article by Tendai U Ya’Ukuu
Monica Miles, assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education, has received the 2025 Arthur O. Eve Education and Community Service Award for her commitment to education, environmental justice and community empowerment.
Presented with the award by New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes during the 54th Annual Legislative Conference in Albany this past February, Miles is recognized for her contributions to equity and sustainability in Western New York.
A faculty member at UB since 2023, Miles works at the intersection of education, social justice, and sustainability, conducting critical research on racialized experiences in STEM education and nonprofits. She is passionate about addressing systemic disparities in K-12 and higher education, particularly for students of color, and takes a hands-on approach to community engagement with the goal of ensuring all students have access to the resources and mentorship they need to thrive.
“I’m a Black woman who grew up in Buffalo. I want to help kids disrupt the narrative that the environment isn’t for them—and we can do that through information and transforming the environment around us,” Miles said.
Miles is actively involved in a number of collaborative sustainability projects that serve the Buffalo community, including supporting the Delavan-Grider Community Center, analyzing space needs at the King Urban Life Center, and partnering with Feed Buffalo, the region’s only halal food pantry, to supply food to Muslim students during Ramadan.
She is also the co-founder and president of Mother Earth Literacies, a business that partners with education, business, and nonprofit organizations to address sustainability and capacity challenges, as well as learning and equity needs, to enhance the quality of life in Western New York.
The Arthur O. Eve Education and Community Service Award honors the legacy of former New York State Assemblyman and Deputy Speaker Arthur O. Eve, who championed racial and economic justice, access to education, and criminal justice reform. Eve became the first Dominican-American in U.S. public office in 1966 and went on to create many policies that opened doors for marginalized communities and increased access to higher education, including the establishment of Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) program and the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP).