Kristin Marcell is a program designer, coordinator, and director with more than 16 years of experience managing partner networks and assistance programs that build the collaborative capacity for partners to innovate on technical, funding, outreach, leadership development, and decision-support challenges in the field of climate adaptation. She serves the Network with a belief that building power with Tribal and BIPOC communities will bring wisdom to decision making in the climate crisis and is essential to create new, just community-led relocation processes in the US.

Before becoming Network Director, Kristin led the Climate Resilience Program for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program in a partnership with Cornell University. She coordinated with state, regional and local government and a diverse group of partners to advance regional and statewide climate adaptation research, policy and design.

Kristin holds a Master’s degree from Tufts University in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and a Bachelor’s degree from Clark University in Biology. She’s also served in local government, on the Environmental Commission and Planning and Zoning Committee in the Town of Rochester, New York. She is based in Moses Lake, Washington, where she lives with her wife, two boys, and a cadre of rescued dogs and cats.