Helping the climate community build grassroots power and win through evidence-based advocacy.
About
A community of over 3,000 climate advocates, organizers, field and academic researchers, and data specialists.
The vast majority of Americans care about the effects of climate change, but something is keeping them from taking action.
The Climate Advocacy Lab was created to help solve this problem …and it’s working.
Every day, thousands of advocates and organizers across the country work to reduce climate pollution and expand clean energy opportunities for healthier, thriving communities and a vibrant, climate-stable world. But, we are living in the most hostile political environment ever to climate action. We don’t have the time or money to waste on tactics that fail, or worse, that backfire. Policy- and decisionmakers won’t take meaningful action until they feel significant pressure from their constituents.
Enter the Climate Advocacy Lab. We use evidence, including social science research, data and analytics, field experiments, case studies, and campaign lessons learned to help climate advocates in every part of the U.S. run smarter public engagement campaigns. We raise the sophistication of the field and the appetite for evidence-informed decisions.
How we do it
The Lab helps climate and clean energy advocates, organizers, funders, social scientists, data experts, and others save time, money, and energy by centralizing and transferring knowledge created by the climate community. The Lab provides:
The ongoing, free state of the art tools and training our movement needs
Access to the rigor of testing and evaluation expertise to ensure our work is achieving intended impacts
A central platform that provides free access to the latest movement insights and learnings on what’s working – and what’s not
Movement connectivity across a network of 3,000+ climate “practitioners” in all 50 states working to build durable political power for lasting climate action.
History
Originally incubated at the Skoll Global Threats Fund, the Climate Advocacy Lab is now an independent project supported by the Skoll Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, Barr Foundation and others.
Reach us at info@climateadvocacylab.org.
Our Team
Andrea Fortanel
Title:
Program Associate
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
My role as Program Associate enables me to apply my extensive background to support the programmatic vision for the lab. Before joining the Lab, my experience working in international settings with NGOs and policy think tanks allowed me to envision programming that builds supportive environments for marginalized communities. With this motivation of working with local communities, I worked with Heartland Alliance, a human rights organization in Chicago, to provide direct services to shelter members. This role allowed me to work in a multi-faceted role to improve our internal standard operating procedures and increase our partnerships for our members' needs. I look forward to contributing to the Lab’s focus on creating ripples of change in eradicating climate change. I received my B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. I currently reside in Long Beach, CA.
Carina Barnett-Loro
Title:
Deputy Director
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
As Deputy Director, I oversee all of the Lab's programmatic offerings as well as lead our organizational learning and evaluation work. Prior to joining the Lab team in 2015, I spent 6 years organizing on local and state-level climate and energy campaigns with the North Carolina Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists. I'm currently based on Durham, NC where I co-lead the Green New Deal for Durham coalition. Outside of climate advocacy, I spend a lot of time walking in the woods with my dog, tending to my houseplants/garden, reading novels with a strong cup of coffee, and dreaming about my next scuba diving trip. Email: carina@climateadvocacylab.org
Dominique Thomas
Title:
Training Manager
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
Hey ya'll! I am a grassroots organizer, researcher, trainer and Afrofuturist. I am based in Harlem, NY. I believe that the key to liberation and stopping climate change is building people centered and powered movements. Relationships and strategic skill-building are essential to successful base-building. This means organizing at the intersection of race and climate and creating the avenues for people, specifically BIPOC communities to imagine themselves outside of systems of oppression and adopt an organizing orientation. Prior to coming to the Climate Advocacy Lab, I was the Mid-Atlantic and Regional Organizer at 350.org. In this role, I launched The Climate League, a training program for BIPOC organizer to learn organizing and campaigning skills, focusing on racial justice in the climate movement. My main objective in this work is to uplift the labor and stories of those who have been erased from the climate movement. In my free time, I love to cooking vegan meals, running along the Hudson River, taking Olamina (my bike) for rides in Central Park and reading anything Octavia Butler.
Jack Zhou
Title:
Social Scientist
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
I produce and manage the Climate Advocacy Lab's social science resources for our webinars, workshops, and other outreach engagements. My research interests include motivated reasoning, framing effects, and political polarization. In other words, how people think about climate change, how they process information on the issue, and what gets in the way. Prior to joining the Lab, I worked as a postdoctoral associate in energy policy and survey methods. I received my B.S. from UC Berkeley and my Ph.D. from Duke University. Email: jack@climateadvocacylab.org
Justin Rolfe-Redding
Title:
Social Scientist
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
My research interests include persuasion, behavior change, statistical methods, and message design. My doctoral work investigates the role of hope in encouraging engagement with global warming, analyzing survey and experiment data. My research has also addressed the influence of political identity and values in global warming beliefs, and the effects of news coverage, social identity framing, and past behavior on attitudes and further behavior. In addition to a background in the environmental advocacy community, I have worked as a research consultant with the National Wildlife Federation, National Park Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency. I received a master’s degree in Communication from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Email: justin@climateadvocacylab.org
Nathan Henderson-James
Title:
Digital Manager
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
As the Digital Manager for the Lab, I help lead our best-in-class training program, with a special emphasis on using digital tools for advocacy. A veteran of over 25 years in progressive organizing and campaigns, I got my start with ACORN in Minnesota. I have spent the last decade building people power at the intersection of digital, technology, and field organizing. I have a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Carleton College and a life-long passion for science fiction.
Nicole Ektnitphong
Title:
Community & Partnerships Manager
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
As an organizer and trainer, the approach I bring to my work blends participant-centered education, body-based wisdom, and lessons from working with a diversity of political campaigns, leaders, and community-based organizations. Having dedicated the last 8+ years to the climate justice movement, I am committed to building effective, healthy teams and sharp strategies that allow us to win bold solutions at the scale of the crisis. As the Community & Partnerships Manager, I cultivate relationships across the movement and look for opportunities to build shared learning, alignment, and power. Prior to the Lab, I served as the Statewide Organizing and Training Director at MN350 and co-led a national network of students that took on the fossil fuel industry by pushing colleges and universities to stop investing in coal, oil, and gas. I currently live in Minneapolis, MN. Two big joys in my life revolve around the kitchen: cooking nourishing foods and learning all about my family foods from Thailand, China, Laos and Vietnam.
Rebecca Tamiru
Title:
Program Lead
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
As the Lab's Program Lead, I provide programming to help the Lab community infuse evidence-based practices into climate and clean energy campaigns, as well as facilitate coordination and collaboration among members. I help lead key areas of the Lab’s strategic program work, including member engagement, execution of case studies documenting environmental and climate justice campaigns, and development and delivery of training content. I received a bachelor's degree in Biology of Global Health from Georgetown University and a Climate Change and Health Certificate from Yale School of Public Health. I aspire to contribute to the creation of an environmentally sustainable, equitable, just, and vibrant future for the generations to come. Email: rebecca@climateadvocacylab.org
Sean Kosofsky
Title:
Executive Director
Affiliation:
Climate Advocacy Lab
I have been a social justice advocate for more than 28 years, and now serve as the Lab’s Executive Director. I got my start in the environmental community in the mid-90s working on clean water campaigns with the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan. I have spent a large part of my career working for LGBTQ equality, reproductive justice, civil and voting rights, bullying prevention and more. I have deep experience working political campaigns and ballot measures, and a long history with polling, message development and framing across multiple movements and voter turnout efforts. I have also supervised cross-organization randomized controlled experiments with grassroots organizations. Most recently, I was leading my own consulting practice helping nonprofits with fundraising, management, strategy, and governance.
Our Advisory Board
The Lab is advised by a Governing Board made up of leaders from across the climate and clean energy communities, including:
- Bruce Lowry (Chair), Director, Policy and Global Security, Skoll Foundation
- Liz Judge, Program Strategist, Tempest Advisors
- Keya Chatterjee, Executive Director, U.S. Climate Action Network
- Lisa Hoyos, Senior Director for Climate Strategy, League of Conservation Voters
- Jamila Raqib, Executive Director, Albert Einstein Institution
- Kevin Grandia, Founder and President, Spake Media House, Inc.
- Refugio Mata, Senior Program Director, Resource Media
- Sean Kosofsky, Executive Director, Climate Advocacy Lab.
We welcome feedback on how to make the Lab more useful to climate engagement efforts, so please do not hesitate to get in touch with ideas on how the Lab can better serve this community by sending us a note at info@climateadvocacylab.org.
Contact Us