While California communities face the ongoing and growing threat of wildfire and other climate-related disasters, the funding landscape for long-term planning, infrastructure improvements, and capacity building for resilience is unpredictable. Given the imperative of continuing to build resilience to the impacts of climate change in spite of an uncertain funding future, how can local communities make the most of state and federal funding to prepare for and respond to extreme weather events?
In this webinar, HORNE Director of Federal and State Programs Geoffrey Ross will discuss the technical assistance his agency provides to support local communities in accessing federal funding for climate disaster preparedness and recovery. Kirin Kumar, Director for Climate and Disaster Resilience for Northern California Grantmakers, will highlight the ways philanthropy is stepping in to fill in gaps in state and federal funding for climate planning, resilience, and adaptation. City of Lodi Mayor and The Craig Group Partners LLC principal Lisa Craig and SPUR Hazard Resilience Senior Policy Manager Sarah Atkinson will share case studies from local jurisdictions, and resources available to support climate disaster recovery and resilience at the local level.
For questions about this event, email Haley Ausserer-Zelaya.
Meet the Speakers
Sarah Atkinson
Hazard Resilience Senior Policy Manager
SPUR
Lisa Craig
Mayor, City of Lodi
Principal, The Craig Group Partners LLC
Kirin Kumar
Director for Climate and Disaster Resilience
Northern California Grantmakers
Geoffrey Ross
Director of Federal and State Programs
HORNE
This webinar series is sponsored by:
Sarah Atkinson
Sarah Atkinson (she/her) is the Hazard Resilience Sr. Policy Manager at SPUR, a non-profit public policy organization serving the Bay Area. SPUR works to create an equitable, sustainable, and prosperous region through research, education, and advocacy. Sarah leads SPUR’s work on hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, community resilience, and environmental justice. She has worked in green construction, food access and education, and environmental communications in both the Bay Area and Massachusetts. Sarah received her master’s in city & regional planning and her bachelor’s in environmental sciences from UC Berkeley.
Lisa Craig
Lisa Craig currently serves as Mayor for the City of Lodi, CA. In her work as Mayor she prioritizes policy efforts in the areas of economic development, downtown revitalization, multi-modal transportation, and clean energy production.
Professionally, she is President of The Craig Group Partners, LLC a national consulting firm facilitating local governments and nonprofit organizations in planning for climate resilience and economic vitality in historic communities. Ms. Craig’s 30 years in local government and property redevelopment along with her extensive network of colleagues in historic preservation, climate adaptation, economic development, and cultural and natural resource protection gives her access to best practices in resilience planning worldwide. Ms. Craig led the award-winning Weather It Together Initiative in Annapolis, MD, the nation’s first cultural resource hazard mitigation plan. Her firm served as the historic preservation consultant for climate and disaster resilience planning in St. Augustine, FL Nantucket, MA, New Bern, NC., and more recently Trinidad and Tobago.
Kirin Kumar
Kirin Kumar serves Northern California Grantmakers as Director for Climate and Disaster Resilience. Previously, Kirin served as the Deputy Director of Equity and Government Transformation at the California Strategic Growth Council, within the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. In that role, Kirin oversaw a portfolio of capacity building, racial justice, and climate change research initiatives that support community resilience and transform government to enable an intersectional and community-first approach to tackling the climate crisis.
As a state grantmaker, Kirin oversaw a $25 million upstream portfolio, funding movement building organizations, tribes, local governments, and coalitions of multi-sector partners to shift power and increase regional capacity to advance climate justice. Translating lessons learned from partnering with communities on the ground, Kirin has led several statewide efforts to shift policy and practice to remove barriers to access, including California’s first ever advanced pay pilot policy and formal cabinet-level commitments to capacity building investments as central to the state’s climate change agenda.
Prior to his role with the Strategic Growth Council, Kirin was the Executive Director of WALKSacramento (now Civic Thread) a regional transportation and health equity nonprofit. In that role, Kirin worked to weave health and racial equity into local land use planning policy, facilitate community-led planning, and increase the region’s competitiveness for critical infrastructure funding.
Geoffrey Ross
Geoffrey is a Director in Government Services. Leveraging his experience in leading several of the country’s most innovative and largest housing and community development initiatives of their kind, he partners with communities to develop successful solutions to complex challenges.
Geoffrey has assisted federal agencies, states, local, and foreign governments in the design and implementation of their programs. He has worked at all levels of government (federal, state, and local), including at HUD, within the State Legislature, as well as being appointed by the Governor.
Geoffrey started his career of service in the United States Marine Corps. He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Art in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles; and earned his Master’s in Planning from the University of Southern California.