Climate Mayors’ Leadership Announces Hiring of New Executive Director, Commits to Accelerating Equitable Climate Action In Nearly 500 Member Cities
Kate Wright Appointed Executive Director as Climate Mayors Focus on Cities Deploying Historic Federal Investment in EV Charging Infrastructure & Resiliency
March 9, 2022 — The mayoral leadership and board of directors of Climate Mayors—a growing network of nearly 500 U.S. mayors who have committed to accelerating equitable climate action in cities—announced today the appointment of Kate Wright as its new executive director. Wright joins Climate Mayors from CivicWell (formerly the Local Government Commission), where she worked with city and other local government leaders to spearhead environmental initiatives on climate resilience, clean mobility, sustainable water management, livable communities, renewable energy, and affordable housing.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kate Wright as Climate Mayors’ Executive Director. I am confident she will help grow the organization and bring additional resources to help U.S. mayors accelerate equitable climate action in cities,” said Sylvester Turner, Climate Mayors Chair and Mayor of Houston. “Climate Mayors is the leading organization helping U.S. cities meet the urgency of the climate crisis. As we enter our next chapter, Kate’s knowledge and experience working with local leaders will be pivotal in advancing solutions in communities across the country. and working more closely with the Biden Administration to ensure we invest in our communities through E.V. charging and other critical climate action.”
“After the board conducted a nationwide search with hundreds of applicants, we are excited to have Kate help the Climate Mayors meet this critical moment,” said Matt Petersen, President of the Climate Mayors board of directors. “With her decade of leadership at CivicWell and working with local governments, the board is confident Kate will help Climate Mayors attract increased resources, grow an experienced staff, and create dynamic programming.”
“Kate has been a powerful local leader on climate issues, and I know she is the right person to lead Climate Mayors into their next chapter. I’m proud of what we have been able to achieve together for Sacramento and California with CivicWell and the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change, and look forward to seeing the impact she’ll have with this national network,” said Climate Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento, CA.
Led by Chair and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Vice-Chairs Mayors Kate Gallego of Phoenix and Satya Rhodes-Conway of Madison, Climate Mayors has grown since its founding in 2014 from 3 mayors to nearly 500 mayors from 48 states today. The leadership of Climate Mayors has created a new governance structure that includes a renewed steering committee, an expanded board of directors, and annual elections of officers. Mayors Turner, Gallego, and Rhodes-Conway recently met with senior DOE and DOT officials, including Secretary Pete Buttigieg, reaffirming their commitment to working with the Biden Administration to ensure funding for EV charging, resiliency, and other investments—thanks to the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—meets the needs of cities. On the heels of the latest IPCC report, Climate Mayors stand ready to implement solutions in their communities to build resilience and sustainability.
“It’s been such an honor to lead CivicWell for almost a decade, developing the CivicSpark AmeriCorps program and the California Adaptation Forum and other impactful programs advancing climate resilience. I am now thrilled to take this experience to lead Climate Mayors at such an exciting time for local leadership,” said Wright. “All across the nation, Climate Mayors are responding to the urgency of climate change by reimagining how we power, build and move throughout cities. These living laboratories are fostering the next generation of solutions that will be replicated across the globe, catalyzing the virtuous cycle of innovation needed to ensure long-term community resiliency and prosperity.”
Climate Mayors and its work to accelerate equitable climate action cities across the country is made possible in great part thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies. Microsoft has committed to underwrite the annual Climate Mayors symposium, scheduled for June 2, 2022 in Reno, NV.
About Climate Mayors Representing over 74 million Americans from 48 states, Climate Mayors is a peer-to-peer network of 474 U.S. city mayors who have committed to fighting climate change. Originally founded in 2014 by 3 mayors, the network’s ranks swelled to almost 400 mayors in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in June 2017. Climate Mayors is committed to accelerating equitable climate action to help each member city achieve their climate goals, while working together city-to-city, with states, and the Biden administration to increase national climate ambition.
For more information, please visit WWW.CLIMATEMAYORS.ORG.
About CivicWell CivicWell, formerly the Local Government Commission, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization supporting sustainable policies and the community leaders who implement them. It inspires, equips, connects, and cultivates leadership for local innovation and community change, especially for leaders responding to the climate crisis and its impacts on their communities. Since 1982, CivicWell has engaged local elected officials, government agencies, and community-based organizations through policy guidance, collaborative partnerships and coalitions, and direct assistance.