Lori Cary-Kothera

Lori Cary-Kothera serves as the Director for Climate Adaptation and Resilience within the Office of the Chief Sustainability Officer at the White House. After nearly two decades in public service, she is co-leading the Federal Climate Adaptation Portfolio where she works with 30 Federal Agencies to help identify, adapt and build resilience to climate impacts. She has launched a community of practice with these agencies to help them build technical skills and partnerships that help leverage knowledge and resources. Prior to working at the White House, Ms. Cary-Kothera served as the Operations Manager at NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management where she led Digital Coast – a platform primarily focused on developing flood resilience products to help coastal managers mitigate their flooding issues. Ms. Cary-Kothera also serves as the chair for the Coastal Issues working group at the Association of State Floodplain Mangers. She has extensive experience working with federal, state and local governments on a range of resilience issues. Ms. Cary-Kothera is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and holds a master’s degree in Biological Oceanography from Florida Institute of Technology.