Shelley Poticha is the Chief Climate Strategist for the Natural Resource Defense Council. Poticha also served as the managing dirctor for the NRDC’s Healthy People & Thriving Communities program, which advances strategies that create strong, just, and resilient communities. She works with local, national, and global leaders to make cities part of the answer to climate change while ensuring that all people can lead healthy, thriving lives.

Previously, Poticha was a senior political appointee in the Obama administration, where she led the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities and launched the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also served as president and CEO of Reconnecting America and as executive director of the Congress for the New Urbanism following 10 years as an urban planner. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a master’s in urban and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She is based in Washington, D.C.

City Planning, Transportation, Environment, Sustainability, Climate Issues, Gardening & Landscaping, Housing, Green, Energy, Political, Environmental Activist Animals & Wildlife, Construction / Materials,