Bernadette Grafton supports communities facing economic challenges and environmental burdens, such as brownfields, in a sustainable process that facilitates understanding, effective communication, and a unified goal to produce a safer, healthier, and livable environment for that community. Besides brownfields, Bernadette is generally drawn to environmental justice communities facing an array of issues and hopes to use the knowledge gained through education and work experiences to impact these communities in a positive way.

As a member of the Performance, Research, and National Technical Assistance Division (PRNTAD) within EDA Headquarters, one of her primary responsibilities is to support the Research and National Technical Assistance (RNTA) program which provides a small pot of funding to various projects focused on economic development research, tool development, and technical assistance for communities across the United States. The RNTA program helps strengthen and further the goals of EDA’s major funding programs. In addition to this work, she is also the national University Center Coordinator, EDA’s Indirect Cost Program Coordinator, and Grants Online point of contact for EDA, among other duties.