Fresh Perspective

Tasion Kwamilele

Government and public affairs manager and director of educational partnerships at Radius Recycling

After working as a local reporter in Oakland, California, Tasion Kwamilele began a career as a communications manager for a Congress member. After three years, she says the job became redundant and she knew it was time for a change.

“I just lost that itch,” she says. “I [thought], ‘I need to do something different.’”

That something different brought Kwamilele to the recycling industry. Today, she is the government and public affairs manager and director of educational partnerships at Portland, Oregon-based Radius Recycling, a role she says satisfied that itch for change she had felt previously.

As government and public affairs manager, Kwamilele engages with stakeholders and government officials to bring visibility to the company’s operations.

“What am I doing to understand legislatively [and] politically how our company can be impacted and what’s coming down the pipeline?” she asks. “That is always my priority.”

She also helped develop a fellowship program that operates under Radius’ Black Employee Network (BEN). The program, which had its first cohort in 2022, provides opportunities for young Black professionals to enter the recycling industry through a one-year commitment with Radius.

For Kwamilele, making the recycling industry known to those who might never have considered it a viable career option is critical.

“When [you have] workforce partnerships, you’re looking at how [to] diversify this workforce and also recognizing that people’s backgrounds diversify our workspace [by] bringing in a different perspective you don’t have,” she says.

“Just as the older people bring wisdom, younger people bring an insight and an excitement to a space.”

In the following interview, Kwamilele discusses the Radius BEN and the many career opportunities within the recycling industry.

"You can make [a] real impact in whatever area you’re in. It’s about making sure you’re in the right position and surrounded by the right team that’s willing to move forward."

Recycling Today (RT): How did you get involved in Radius’ BEN and how has it evolved?

Tasion Kwamilele (TK): I was a member of the Black Employee Network when I first joined Radius. For me, coming into the corporate space, a space that lacks people of color in general, you don’t see a lot of me in this industry … [so] to have that network and that circle around you [is] extremely important so you don’t feel intimidated and you feel like there’s that space to take risk and to push for something that may not look like what everyone has always seen.

I believe BEN provided that space for me and gave me that comfort to know it’s OK to push for something. It opened a lot of doors and connections, and I am grateful for that.

Our environmental fellow was a business major, she never thought about going into something like this … and that’s what it’s all about.

RT: There’s so much room for people … in other majors and on other paths that we don’t necessarily think about.

TK: Like in economics and … STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] because the work environment is changing ... and you need educated leaders to help navigate that transition.

You don’t have to say, “I’m in tech ... and have to go to a tech company.” You can bring those same skills to this industry, too, because there’s a role for everything. There’s accounting, there’s [human resources]—there’s so many different spaces.

I knew I wanted to do communications, potentially around political issues, so I felt I had to go into politics. Coming into this industry [I realized] you can make [a] real impact in whatever area you’re in. It’s about making sure you’re in the right position and surrounded by the right team that’s willing to move forward.