Laurie Ashley (she/her)

Laurie Ashley leads NRDC's work on climate mobility and planned relocation, advancing equitable, community-centered frameworks, policies, and tools that support frontline communities navigating the hardest decisions posed by accelerating climate risk. She works with government entities, frontline communities, and coalition partners to develop the governance models, funding mechanisms, and implementation resources needed to make planned relocation a recognized and resourced adaptation pathway. She connects work in the U.S. to the growing international evidence base on climate-related mobility. Prior to joining NRDC, Ashley served as a principal at Vantage Collaborative and as a climate adaptation advisor at the USAID Center for Resilience, where she co-authored the U.S. government's landmark report and action plan on climate mobility. At USAID, she designed and led a $38 million multi-stakeholder climate resilience initiative, advised more than $600 million in country and regional climate programming across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and represented the United States on the UNFCCC Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) and in Conference of the Parties (COP) negotiations. Ashley holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Montana and a master's degree in resource conservation from the University of Montana College of Forestry and Conservation. She is based in NRDC's Washington, D.C., office.