About Us

Our goal is to ensure that communities of all sizes in the US and Canada have effective climate resilience strategies to protect their people, natural resources, economy, infrastructure, and culture.

The Climate Ready Communities^® program is designed to bring Whole Community Resilience to local governments with an assisted “Do-It-Yourself” approach.

Whole Community Resilience is a proven framework, developed by the Geos Institute’s ClimateWise team. It is a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder approach. It can be adjusted over time and creates multiple benefits across the community.

The framework aims to develop a plan while also strengthening local capacity. This ensures communities have the skills necessary to continue building climate resilience over time.

The Climate Ready Communities^® program is an initiative of the Geos Institute, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in the United States.

Program Staff

We are a team of experienced climate adaptation planners and scientists who have helped many communities understand the local reality of changing conditions and create solutions that build resilience.

Tonya Graham

Executive Director

Marni Koopman

PhD, Climate Change Scientist

Geoff Weaver

Program Director

Christina Mills

Deputy Director

Kim Adams

Organization and Strategy Analyst

Acknowledgements

The following organizations and individuals have generously contributed their funding or expertise to the development of the Climate Ready Communities^® program. We are deeply grateful for their assistance.

Davis, Hearn, Anderson & Turner, P.C.: Advice for Climate Ready Communities^® legal documents
Derek Shetterly: Narration for Climate Ready Communities^® tutorials – info@dereksvoice.com
Kresge Foundation: Support and funding for our on-the-ground adaptation work with communities that formed the foundation of the Climate Ready Communities^® program.

We are also indebted to the 7 communities around the US who reviewed and provided beta feedback of program materials in March 2018, and to Charles Leister and 6 communities around the US who reviewed and provided pre-beta feedback in September 2017. Both beta and pre-beta feedback have been critically important to our development of a program that is useful and relevant for communities interested in building local climate resilience.

Testimonials

“The Climate Ready Communities^® program is off to a great start. I was one of the Beta reviewers for this program in March 2018, and was impressed by the breadth and detail of the information provided in the Practical Guide for Developing Climate Resilience. The Geos Institute’s 7-step framework for developing climate resilience provides a systems approach that a community can actually use and the Guide covers a range of useful topics from community engagement to developing a task force. The tutorials, templates and website will help a community like ours navigate the resilience building process.”

Dena Winslow, tribal planner and grant writer, Aroostook Band of MicMacs, Presque Isle, ME
"Climate Ready Communities^® has given the City of Warren the means and resources necessary to begin meaningful dialogues about climate change, mitigation, and adaptation in a way that leads to community-driven actions that can be implemented by way of local and county governments through actions organized by steering committees."

City of Warren, MN
"The Climate Ready Communities^® program has been extremely relevant and useful for Sierra CAMP as a regional collaborative. The comprehensive guide with its step-by-step organization helps us and our member communities break the climate resilience planning process into manageable steps and build our internal technical expertise. We’ve found the Annual Support service to be valuable for our Peer Group in demonstrating specific adaptation case studies, and we’ve had a chance to utilize the consulting hours to conceptualize and plan key regional initiatives like the regional vulnerability assessment."

Nikki Caravelli, Sierra CAMP Project Manager, Sierra Business Council
We find these tools to be effective and designed with a community user’s perspective in mind. We appreciate the step-by-step approach as well as the fact that the program is flexible, allowing us to make modifications as needed to fit our specific circumstances. We also appreciate the opportunity to consult with the experts at the Geos Institute as we go through the process."

Diana Maneta, Missoula County’s Energy Conservation and Sustainability Coordinator
“The Climate Ready Communities^® program has been an excellent tool for Corinth. It provides clear steps and expert guidance. The backing of the Geos Institute provides credibility and helps to build momentum for our resilience planning. Our participation in the Climate Ready Communities pilot has put us much further along in the climate resilience planning process than I believe we otherwise would be.”

Patrick Hubbard, Development Coordinator for the City of Corinth, TX