Faculty

Profile

Whitney McGuire. Esq. (she/her/hers) is a mother, writer, a New York state licensed attorney, legal and sustainability consultant & strategist, and co-founder of Sustainable Brooklyn, an organization that disrupts the whitewashing of sustainability in order to concretize equity in the sustainability movement. Whitney is a fierce advocate for the sustainability of communities first and most impacted by environmental and social degradation due to the climate crisis. Whitney began studying fashion law in 2011, eventually becoming chairperson of Fashion Law Week, a youth-led, annual series of events dedicated to educating the public about legal issues impacting the fashion industry. In law school, Whitney provided research for the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act (H.R. 2511), and joined her law school's Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy where she drafted a articles highlighting the human toll of fast fashion prior to the Rana Plaza tragedy. In 2013, after graduating the Catholic University of America - Columbus School of Law, Whitney opened her own law firm to support the sustainability of marginalized artists. Whitney completed a federal clerkship in 2017 and joined a California-based law firm, The Fashion Law Group, now Brand Counsel, as a contract attorney and eventually, Of Counsel before exiting to begin consulting and advising artists and art institutions on hybrid legal, business, sustainability, and equity issues. Whitney has held positions in lobbying, the U.S. federal judiciary, various fashion-oriented for profit and non-profit companies, and in law firms. In addition to her work as a mother, attorney and sustainability strategist, Whitney is the inaugural Associate Director of Sustainability at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She is an active community member, having held board positions on the Las Vegas Fashion Council, The Las Vegas Arts District, and The Women's Prison Association. 

Degrees Held

(2024) Certificate: Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership - Harvard University

(2013) Juris Doctor - The Catholic University of America - Columbus School of Law

(2008) Bachelor of Arts - English Language and Literature - The George Washington University

Professional Affiliation

New York State Bar

Recent Publications

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/contributor/whitney-mcguire

Performances and Appearances

05/2023 - American Alliance of Museums (AAM)

Presentor: Sustainability at the Guggenheim

09/2023 - United Nations General Assembly

Speaker: Climate Finance for the Cultural Sector

11/2023 - UNESCO General Conference

Panelist: Climate Finance and Funding 

Research Interests

Systems thinking, law, equity, sustainability, fashion law, intellectual property, equitable design, sustainable fashion policy, agriculture, agriculture policy, colonialism, environmental justice, racial justice, urban policy, abolition, education policy, consumer psychology

Awards And Honors

1. Breakout Foundation Grant award recipient
2. MoCADA Museum Grant award recipient
3. Martin Luther King Jr. Award - The George Washington University
4. Miriam Rooney Award for Outstanding Women Students at the Catholic Universty of America, Columbus School of Law
5. Extra Mile Award for outstanding leadership in the law school community at the Catholic Universty of America, Columbus School of Law
6. Writer in Residence - Spruceton Inn, 2021 
7. Writer in Residence - Action Lab, 2022
8. Writer in Residence - Mae's House, 2022
9. Writer in Residence - Womb Residency CDMX, 2023