McCabe's career in public service at the EPA started in 2009, when she became Principal Deputy to the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR). In 2013, she became Acting Assistant Administrator for OAR and was nominated by President Barack Obama for the role of Assistant Administrator, where she served through January 2016. Her leadership at the EPA was instrumental in advancing critical air quality and climate change initiatives during President Obama’s two terms.

Before her work at the EPA, McCabe was Executive Director of Improving Kids' Environment, Inc., an environmental health advocacy organization focused on protecting children’s health. She also taught at the Indiana University School of Medicine and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. From 1993 to 2005, McCabe held various leadership roles in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Office of Air Quality, including Assistant Commissioner for that office.

Before to moving to Indianapolis in 1993, McCabe was Assistant Attorney General for Environmental Protection in Massachusetts and the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Impact Review, managing Massachusetts’ environmental review statute. She began her legal career clerking for Justice Neil L. Lynch of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Raised in Washington, DC, McCabe graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Her work has been central to advancing environmental protection, public health, children’s health protection, climate change action and resilience, and she remains a leading figure in environmental law and policy. Read Less ^