Brown University

St. Paul's School

U.S. Public Affairs Team at Uber

Greater Los Angeles Area

Uber

U.S. Public Affairs Team

Public Affairs: New Mobility Policy - US + Canada

Public Affairs - Southern California

Faraday Future

Associate Director, Government Affairs

The White House launched the Climate Action Champions (CAC) Initiative in December 2014 with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and 10 other Federal Agencies to support local and tribal government climate actions by:-  Targeting Federal support to accelerate greenhouse gas emission reductions and climate resilience in local communities across the U.S.-  Ensuring Champions represent a diverse group of communities so that lessons learned have national applicability – providing replicable models for both communities demonstrating continued climate leadership and underserved communities seeking to scale their climate action.-  Working with Champions so the U.S. Government can better understand barriers to local climate action and incorporate lessons learned into Federal programs, tools, and processes where possible.-  Engaging strong external partners to foster this work, including national philanthropies, community foundations, NGOs, and the private sector.

The White House

Director, White House Climate Action Champion Program

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

Senior Advisor

Member of 5-person Global Management Team that oversees 50+ global staff and supports the Executive Director on strategic operations decisions. Drive C40 global partnership development to deliver technical assistance to C40 cities to reduce GHG emissions and climate risks; lead development of C40’s city diplomacy and UN engagement strategy leading to COP 21, demonstrating how C40 cities’ success in delivering emission reductions can spur national governments to be more ambitious; manage C40 Board of Directors and 10-city Steering Committee; oversee C40 fundraising and grant management.

Interim Director, Governance & Global Parnerships

Served as the Deputy Director of Initiatives and Regions at the C40, following a successful merger with the Clinton Climate Initiative's Cities Program.As a member of C40's Executive Team, I developed and drove core global strategy efforts related to delivery of direct assistance and peer-to-peer exchange across 63 C40 Cities around the world to reduce GHG emissions and climate risks. Developed C40’s first global partnerships strategy; managed ongoing global partnership development.Created and implemented organization’s first global events strategy; led content development, planning and delivery of C40’s events including Rio+20 and C40 Mayors Summit in Johannesburg, with over 600 attendees and participation of UNFCCC Executive Secretary Figueres, UN Special Envoy Michael Bloomberg, and 18 international megacity mayors.

Deputy Director, Initiatives & Regions

I served as the Los Angeles City Director for the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI). C40 is a network of large and engaged cities from around the world committed to implementing meaningful and sustainable climate-related actions locally that will help address climate change globally. Operating at the nexus of business, politics, and environmentalism in Los Angeles, my work focused on low-carbon transportation, outdoor lighting efficiency, building energy efficiency, and climate adaptation. Most notably:I supported the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting and Mayor Villaraigosa’s Office to develop and launch a major streetlight retrofit project - which remains the largest in the world to date. Once complete, the project will reduce CO2 emissions by over 40,500 tons and save the city $10 million annually in street light maintenance and energy costs — a 40% savings. In partnership with the the LA Department of Transportation, the  LA Mayor's Office, and the LA City Council, I led the development and drafting of a municipal RFP for a city-wide car share program, to launch in 2012.I served as a Senior Advisor to the LA Mayor's Office on electric vehicles, supporting the development and realization of LA's EV strategy, including serving as a key liaison between the Mayor's Office, area utilities, policy-makers, OEMs, and neighboring cities on regional EV deployment coordination. I worked with the City of Los Angeles to design and launch the Los Angeles Commercial Building Performance Partnership -- an ARRA funded initiative offering commercial building owners energy audits and innovative financing options (including PACE) to catalyze commercial energy upgrades and private sector investment.I supported the Mayor's Office on the development and drafting of the city's climate adaptation strategy - drawing in extensive research and lessons learned from cities throughout the C40 network.

Clinton Climate Initiative, William J. Clinton Foundation

City Director, Los Angeles

From January 2008 - April 2009 I served as the External Communications Coordinator at the William J. Clinton Foundation's Climate Initiative. I worked out of the New York office coordinating all aspects of CCI's external communications, marketing and press.

Sarah Potts Ashton