10X Los Angeles Summit: The 5th National Climate Assessment

What does the 5th National Climate Assessment tell us and how should we respond?
The National Climate Assessment provides an authoritative summary of the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. Developed by a team of more than 300 experts guided by a 60-member Federal Advisory Committee, the 5th edition of the Assessment is designed “to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change,” especially as they are applied to the United States.*
This session with key authors of the assessment breaks down the implications for the future and how Ten Across can serve as a laboratory for adaptation strategies and actions.
Panel guests include:
Dave White [Moderator]
Associate Vice President, Research Advancement in ASU Knowledge Enterprise, Arizona State University
Dave White joined Arizona State University in 2001 and has helped lead ASU’s evolution into one of the world’s leading universities for global impact. He is Associate Vice President, Research Advancement in ASU Knowledge Enterprise. In this capacity, he advances research strategy for the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory (GFL), which is dedicated to shaping a future in which life thrives on a healthy planet. White also serves as Director of the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, where he coordinates more than 30 research centers, programs, and projects advancing use-inspired science for the betterment of people and the planet. White is internationally recognized for his contributions to science in support of sustainability. He has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles advancing numerous fields including water policy, decision science, science and technology studies, sustainability science, and natural resources management.
Sam Assefa
Director, California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research
Samuel Assefa serves as Director of the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, an agency that fosters goal-driven collaboration, delivers guidance to state partners and local communities, with a focus on land-use and community development, climate resilience, and high-road economic development. Assefa has extensive experience working in urban design, land-use planning, and architecture with a dedicated focus on equity. Prior to being appointed OPR Director, Assefa served as Director of the City of Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development. Assefa holds a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Leah Fisher
Program Director, Invest in Our Future
Leah is the Program Director at Invest in Our Future (IOF), a new philanthropic effort that is mobilizing funds to ensure that unprecedented federal climate investments strengthen communities across the country, reduce pollution, and transform our economy. Leah joined IOF from the public sector, where she advanced a variety of national and state climate change policy efforts. Most recently Leah led statewide climate change planning for the California Department of Transportation, and prior to that she was the Senior Advisor for Research & Innovation at the California Strategic Growth Council and Governor’s Office of Planning & Research, where she guided integration of climate science into a variety of interagency policy efforts, provided leadership to the State’s Climate Change Assessments, and established two grant programs that centered racial justice and equity in advancing community-driven planning and research. Leah joined the State of California after five years supporting federal agencies in Washington, DC, and is an author for the Southwest Chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
Brittany Moffett
Senior Resilience Engineer, Arup
Brittany is a Senior Resilience Engineer based in Arup's Los Angeles office. Her work is a blend of on-the-ground insight implementing resilience projects and broader analyses that help inform policy and program design. Brittany's projects span scales, from unearthing challenges faced by Los Angeles’s affordable housing sector in decarbonizing to providing technical energy support to trusted community resources transforming to serve as safe havens during escalating climate hazards. Her resilience hub work includes assisting facilities in wildfire-prone Santa Barbara County and providing technical advisory to 10 community-based organizations across the country through ISC's Dismantling Energy Inequity in Communities of Color program. She’s had the privilege of collaborating with organizations like HUD, NRDC, SCE, Enterprise, NYSERDA, as well as various City and County departments. Brittany holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and a Master's degree in Building Science from USC's School of Architecture.