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05/07/24: A Fireside Chat on Climate Change: Implications for National Security
Tuesday, May 07, 2024, 2:00 PM to Thursday, May 09, 2024, 4:00 PM EDT
Category: Events

Please join the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and the Embassy of Canada on Tuesday, May 7 for "A Fireside Chat on Climate Change: Implications for National Security." The event will include a panel discussion featuring Sheri Goodman, Senior Fellow, Wilson Center Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program; Sara Cohen, Deputy Head of Mission, Foreign Policy and National Security; and Rachel Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army for Installations, Energy and Environment. 

Interested in attending but not a member? No problem! We have a variety of different membership levels to fit your needs. As a WFPG member, not only are you invited to attend events like this, but you also receive complimentary admission to all other in-person and virtual professional development and mentoring programs, such as Career Pathways and Mentor Minutes. Additionally, you will gain access to exclusive member experiences and opportunities.

Membership types are available here.

Memberships are valid for one full year. 

Tuesday, May 7, 2024
2:00 - 4:00 PM ET

Embassy of Canada to the United States
501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW 3rd floor
Washington, DC 20001

REGISTER HERE


Sara Cohen is the Deputy Head of Mission (Foreign Policy and National Security) at the Embassy of Canada to the United States in Washington, D.C. As part of the Embassy’s senior executive leadership team, Sara oversees programs dealing with foreign and defence policy, energy and environment, public safety, border security, immigration, intelligence liaison and law enforcement. Prior to assuming this position, she held various executive positions in Ottawa at the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada. Most recently, she served as Director General, South America and Inter-American Affairs Bureau (2020-2022); in this capacity, she was also Canada’s National Coordinator for the US-hosted Summit of the Americas, which took place in Los Angeles, California in June 2022. Previously, she was Chief of Staff to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2017- 2020) and Chief of Staff to the Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2016-2017). In 2017, Sara established and headed up the Canada-US Engagement Task Force, for which she and her team received the 2018 Public Service Award of Excellence for Exemplary effort under Extraordinary circumstances.


Sherri Goodman is Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program and Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security (IMCCS), representing over 40 military and national security organizations addressing the security risks of a changing climate. Sherri serves as Vice-Chair of the US Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board (ISAB).

Sherri is the author of Threat Multiplier:  Climate, Military Leadership and the Fight for Global Security, coming in 2024. Sherri chairs the Board of the Council on Strategic Risks and chairs the External Advisory Board on Energy and Homeland Security for Sandia National Laboratories.  She serves on the Climate Council of the US EXIM Bank. Sherri is a Board Director of the Atlantic Council and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Sherri is the former President and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership.  She served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CNA (US Center for Naval Analyses).    She is the founder and Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board, whose landmark reports include National Security and the Threat of Climate Change(2007) and Advanced Energy and US National Security (2017). Sherri served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security), (1993-2001), where she was responsible for environmental, energy, safety and occupational health for the US Department of Defense.


Rachel Jacobson was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 15, 2022, and sworn in as the  17th Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army for Installations, Energy and Environment  (ASA(IE&E)) on April 4, 2022. In this position, Ms. Jacobson is the primary advisor to the  Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff of the Army for all matters related to Army  installation policy and oversight, military construction and housing, energy policy, natural and  cultural resource management, historic preservation, safety and occupational health, and all  environmental matters. Ms. Jacobson also serves as the Army's Chief Sustainability Officer.

Ms. Jacobson is an experienced environmental lawyer, having spent the majority of her career  at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Ms.  Jacobson was an appointee during the Obama-Biden Administration where she served at the  Department of Defense as the Deputy General Counsel for Environment, Energy and  Installations, and at the Department of the Interior, as Principal Deputy Solicitor and Acting  Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.  
Ms. Jacobson, who came to the Army position following five years in private practice at the law  firm Wilmer Hale in Washington, D.C., also ran a conservation program at the National Fish  and Wildlife Foundation. Ms. Jacobson is a member of the bars of Illinois, D.C. and  Massachusetts, and the American College of Environmental Lawyers. She received an  undergraduate degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis, and a law degree  from Boston University School of Law. A native of Chicago, Ms. Jacobson resides in  Washington, D.C.  

The Women's Foreign Policy Group is a non-partisan organization committed to promoting women's leadership and voices in international affairs through in-depth global issues programming and mentoring. Not a WFPG member? Get engaged with our programming and events:

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Please direct any questions to [email protected].