About Us

Johanna (she/her) is the Executive Director at the Climate & Community Institute. She directs the network of researchers and experts to develop crucial and justice-based climate policy. Her research focuses on extraction and fossil fuels, energy justice and democracy, and the political economy of transitions. Prior to joining the Climate and Community …

Patrick (he/him) is the Research Director at the Climate & Community Institute (CCI). Prior to joining CCI he was a Lecturer in Economic Geography at Lancaster University in the UK and holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Kentucky. His scholarly research focused on the creation and regulation of new …

Rithika (she/her) is the Communications Director at the Climate & Community Institute. She works with members, journalists, and allies to publish and publicize CCI’s world-building research and craft narrative strategy for climate and economic transformation. Prior to joining CCI, she was Economic Justice Editor at Nonprofit Quarterly. She writes on a wide …

Batul Hassan (she/her) is the Care & Education Policy Manager at the Climate & Community Institute (CCI), where she works closely with member scholars and movement allies to research, manage, and execute projects that build the case for transformative, racially-just climate policy. Before joining CCI, she worked in New York City Health …

Ruthy Gourevitch (she/her) is the Housing & Communities Policy Director at the Climate & Community Institute (CCI), where she works with organizers, researchers, and policymakers to advance housing and climate justice. Ruthy has worked on housing policy at the local and federal levels as a researcher, political staffer, and advocate. Ruthy was …

Emmett (he/him) is the Transportation Policy Manager at the Climate & Community Institute, where he works with members and partners to advance a new vision for mobility that centers justice across the transportation supply chain. Emmett previously worked as Operations Director at Climate Mobilization Project and led CMP’s intersectional organizing for transportation …

Laurel Chen (she/her) is the Operations Manager at the Climate & Community Institute (CCI). She works alongside staff to set up and maintain the backbone organizational systems that allow for smooth, sustainable, and just operations. Prior to joining CCI, Laurel worked on the Communications Team at the Green New Deal Network. Laurel’s …

Lucy Block (she/her) is the Data Communications Manager at the Climate & Community Institute (CCI). She distills CCI’s in-depth research and quantitative analysis into impactful visualizations and accessible narratives. Her background is in strategic data analysis, storytelling, and data tools to support organizing and advocacy campaigns, particularly for tenant rights in New …

Winston (he/him) is the Energy & Industrial Systems Policy Manager, where he will work with researchers, labor and environmental justice allies to develop and implement justice-oriented visions around managed fossil fuel phase out, planning for green industrial systems, and democratic ownership and governance of energy systems. Before CCI, Winston was most recently …

Daniel Aldana Cohen is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he directs the Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative, or (SC)2. He has been a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar. His research focuses on the political economy of …

Billy (he/him) is a founder and strategic co-director of Climate & Community Institute. He is the Wilks Family Director of the Ian L. McHarg Center in the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania and currently Diana Balmori Visiting Professor at the Yale School of Architecture. Prior to joining Penn, …

Thea Riofrancos is a Strategic Co-Director of the Climate & Community Institute. She is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College and a fellow at the Transnational Institute. Her research focuses on resource extraction, renewable energy, climate change, the global lithium sector, green technologies, social movements, and the Latin American …

Dana L. Bourland, AICP is the co-founder of Soils and Vessels, an initiative that supports land reunion efforts worldwide. Most recently Dana led the creation of the environment program at The JPB Foundation, which during her tenure was one of the largest environmental funders in the US focused on environmental and climate …

Esteban Kelly is the Executive Director of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives and has offered visionary leadership and creative strategy in economic democracy and co-op movements for over twenty years. He is a co-founder and worker-owner of AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance), a worker co-op that builds capacity for social …

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author. She is Senior Correspondent for The Intercept. In 2018 she was named the inaugural Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair at Rutgers University and is now Honorary Professor of Media and Climate at Rutgers. In September 2021 she joined the University of …

Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He has degrees from the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University, has worked for the World Bank and …

Jean Su is the Energy Justice Program Director & Senior Attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. She works to challenge wall construction in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and serves on the boards of Climate Action Network International and SustainUS. Before joining the Center, she worked as a renewable energy project finance attorney …