Em Johnson joined Community Environmental Council (CEC) in 2022 and is currently the Director of Climate Programs, leading CEC’s work to help our Central Coast communities better respond, recover, adapt, and thrive in the face of climate change-related disruptions. Em has worked alongside frontline communities to design, plan, and implement community projects aimed at enhancing local socio-economic resilience. During her five years as Executive Director of the Blue Sky Center, she helped energize creativity, innovation, and investment in the Cuyama Valley in Central California, worked to depoliticize climate change, and bridged the divide between urban and rural communities. She led efforts to connect people to resources and to develop new entrepreneurial initiatives and grassroots efforts to reclaim the power of rural resiliency.

Em earned her MBA in social entrepreneurship and strategic planning at Antioch University in Santa Barbara. She is an executive committee member of the Central Coast Climate Collaborative and the Alliance of Regional Climate Collaboratives for Adaptation. Outside of work, you can most often find Em hosting dinner parties in her high desert home or exploring our abundant Central Coastline.