Johanna R. Lovecchio

BIOGRAPHY:

Johanna Lovecchio is the Director of Program Design for Climate Action at the Climate School at Columbia University, where she is leading efforts to deliver “fourth purpose” impact. She is co-director of the Coastal Resilience and Environmental Justice and Climate Justice Cities Earth Networks as well as Adjunct Faulty of Climate, leading the Climate School’s Imagining Climate Justice and Resilience collaboration with the Urban Design Program at GSAPP.

She brings the role a specialization in climate adaptation planning, policy, and project design at the intersection of socio-ecological systems, justice, climate, and the built environment. Prior to joining Columbia Climate School, Johanna worked as the Associate Director of the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, where she ran the Resilience Accelerator program with partners such as the Resilient Reefs Initiative and the 100 Resilient Cities Program, delivering strategic support, technical design and climate systems research, and intensive local workshops to prepare resilience projects and policies for implementation.

Prior to joining Columbia, she led efforts at HR&A Advisors and the NYC Dept. of City Planning to scale resilience and disaster recovery capacity-building, develop city- and district-wide climate adaptation plans, explore planning opportunities in waterfront communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy, and design transformative urban resilience infrastructure investments. This portfolio included the delivery of the National Disaster Resilience Competition and Global Resilience Academy programs as well as the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resilience Study. Johanna is also on the Leadership Council of the Climigration Network and Co-Chair of the Funding and Resources Working Group.

Johanna holds a Masters of Urban Planning from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Environmental Studies and Metropolitan Studies from the New York University College of Arts and Sciences.

She is a frequent speaker and her favorite part of her job is learning from and with her students. She spends every moment she possibly can by, on, or in the ocean.