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From Columbia to COP27 in Six Months: Cassidy Childs
Cassidy Childs is a analysis affiliate for worldwide local weather coverage on the Middle for American Progress, and a 2022 graduate of Columbia College’s MPA in Environmental Science and Coverage (MPA-ESP) program. Inside six months of graduating, Cassidy attended the UN local weather convention (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. On the convention, she organized a loss and harm occasion and a local weather science accessibility occasion on the convention’s first-ever Local weather Justice Pavilion. The panelists included White Home officers, CEOs of environmental nonprofits, senior coverage consultants, and advocates. The occasions had been a powerful success and pushed justice and fairness conversations additional into the convention.
On the Middle for American Progress, Cassidy works to carry fairness and inclusion into environmental insurance policies which have traditionally marginalized low-income communities and communities of coloration. These embrace insurance policies round local weather resilience and adaptation, and environmental justice within the US and overseas. Her day-to-day work contains analysis for merchandise that get revealed on the CAP web site, occasion and assembly coordination, coalition and accomplice collaboration, and writing memos on worldwide local weather insurance policies.
Cassidy spoke to us in the beginning of 2023 to offer present and potential ESP college students with profession and program recommendation.
What pursuits you in regards to the sustainability subject?
I grew to become captivated with local weather points after the 2017 Tubbs Hearth devastated my hometown of Santa Rosa, California. The Tubbs Hearth burned over 5,200 houses and shook the inspiration of the group I grew up in. From that have, local weather change and its impacts grew to become a really private challenge. At UC Berkeley, I started learning local weather resilience and local weather justice and advocating for native environmental justice causes. What grew to become clear to me was that local weather change would be the struggle of our life and it’ll disproportionately affect essentially the most weak communities. That may at all times be a worthy drawback to work to resolve.
Are you able to give us a fast overview of your earlier work expertise and academic background?
Previous to my job on the Middle for American Progress, I used to be an environmental justice intern on the White Home Council on Environmental High quality (CEQ). At CEQ, I used to be serving to implement President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and the Local weather and Financial Justice Screening Device. The Justice40 Initiative is a aim that 40% of the advantages of sure authorities investments movement to deprived communities. The internship gave me an ideal perspective on how the federal authorities implements interagency initiatives and I used to be grateful to get to work on one of the vital vital environmental justice insurance policies in US historical past.
My prior skilled experiences embrace analysis on local weather resilience and advocacy for environmental justice points. I earned my BA in political science and BS in society and surroundings from UC Berkeley.
What impressed you to earn your MPA-ESP from Columbia?
The MPA-ESP program was interesting to me as a result of it centered on the nexus of coverage, know-how, finance, and environmental points. Not many colleges have addressed local weather and environmental points by such a progressive lens. Different MPA packages wouldn’t deal with the science, and different environmental science packages wouldn’t deal with the insurance policies and politics. This program ensured that I might get to find out about each. Moreover, the cohort model of this system was interesting, as a result of I knew that it could give me an opportunity to actually join with my classmates and forge friendships that will final a lifetime.
What abilities did you develop by this system? How have these translated to your skilled life?
This system taught me methods to lead and take part in giant group tasks which have each short-term and long-term deliverables. Due to the numerous quantity of group tasks, this system challenges us to delegate tasks, attain consensus, and work productively with individuals from numerous backgrounds. The identical sorts of abilities are crucial at my job the place tasks are sometimes executed not solely throughout work groups but additionally doubtlessly throughout organizations.
The place would you wish to see your profession take you?
The local weather coverage world is quickly altering and increasing, which may be very thrilling. I want to proceed my work on local weather and environmental justice as a result of whether or not the insurance policies are on clear power deployment or allowing reform or local weather adaptation and infrastructure, fairness concerns and group impacts must be on the forefront of the decision-making. My imaginative and prescient for the long run is one the place we not solely be taught to reside on this world sustainably, but additionally redress the large inequalities and historic racism in our society and worldwide.
What’s your favourite reminiscence of this system?
My favourite reminiscence from this system was our journey to Coney Island in the summertime. It was a good way to discover the town, take a break, and have a good time as a cohort. We performed video games, frolicked within the ocean, and went to the arcade. After I look again on that day I bear in mind the sensation of the nice and cozy solar, the sounds of laughter, and the scent of fried meals.
What recommendation would you give to present college students?
This system is brief and it is best to take every day as a possibility to take a step towards your targets. It is best to attain out to as many professionals, alumni, and present college students to find out about potential pathways that you could be or could not like. Your conversations gives you numerous details about the skilled world, your self, and potential alternatives to pursue.
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