I’m Kat, and I’m thrilled to introduce myself as the new Chief Executive Officer of The Climate Center! As I settle into my new role, I want to tell you about myself and why I’m excited to lead this organization.
I’ve admired The Climate Center’s work for some time now because I see an organization that embodies its values of ambition, equity, collaboration, inclusion, innovation, and responsibility. The Climate Center occupies an incredibly important lane as the driver of bold climate action in the world’s fourth-largest economy. Our laser focus on California’s climate leadership has a ripple effect across the nation and the world. This is an organization that knows how to win without compromising integrity or ambition, and I’m excited to lead our next chapter.
My vision for The Climate Center is to continue doing what we do best: working in partnership to advance bold, life-saving climate policy. In two decades as an organizer, I’ve seen that our biggest wins come when we build in collaboration. In order to overcome Big Oil obstruction, we’ll need to grow our movement, bringing in even more communities, organizations, and partners.
I’m coming to The Climate Center from Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL), where I served in senior leadership roles like National Director of Campaign Operations and National Director of Organizing and Training. Across progressive movements, we’re fighting both Trump-led attacks on the gains we’ve made in recent years while also hearing from our communities that defending our progress isn’t enough — we must keep pushing.
I have always been an organizer at heart — creating change by meeting people where they’re at, hearing what they care about, and working together to build a better future has been the throughline in my career. And that’s the perspective I’ll bring as CEO of The Climate Center, too.
I am a born and raised Californian, and at this point I’ve lived or worked in nearly every corner of the state. After I graduated from UC Berkeley, I began my career in the environmental movement and played a role in some of the milestone victories that built California’s reputation for climate leadership. Those include establishing the state’s goal of reaching 100 percent electricity by 2045, qualifying one of the first local ballot measures in the state to ban fracking, and more.
For me, joining The Climate Center is like coming back home, and it couldn’t come at a more important moment. We have to not only protect the progress that our movement has worked so hard for, but we must do more. California can’t afford to fall behind in the fight for a climate-safe future.
My first priority as CEO is to hear from you, the community of donors, activists, and partners that power our work. Please reach out to our team by emailing info@theclimatecenter.org, and stay tuned for more ways to connect, including virtual and in-person events near you. You can also follow me on LinkedIn.
