California Funder Briefing: Climate Resilience Under Attack

Jillian Blanchard is L4GG’s Vice President of Climate Change and Environmental Justice and a nationally recognized attorney in energy and natural resources law. Ms. Blanchard has worked in all levels of government, nonprofit, and the private sector on environmental, infrastructure, and climate change issues for over 20 years. In 2018, she helped craft Governor Gavin Newsom's climate change platform as part of his reelection campaign and regularly advises cities and public agencies on infrastructure, environmental, and energy issues. As VP of the Climate Change and Climate Justice Program at L4GG, she has managed over 400 lawyers to help provide critical guidance to cities, states, and nonprofit partners to help expedite the country's shift to a clean and equitable green economy and to address environmental justice.

Jessica serves as Chief of Staff and VP of Strategic Initiatives at Nonprofit Finance Fund where she leads the development of innovative strategic partnerships and programs that further NFF's commitment to connecting nonprofit organizations with the capital and resources needed to build community wealth and power.

As Chief Business Development Officer for NFF’s Advisory Services practice, she raised $7-9 million in annual revenue to deliver consulting services for mission-based organizations and their funding partners and was part of the leadership team overseeing the operations and strategic evolution of a national consulting practice. Previously, as VP of Strategic Innovation, she led NFF’s work in the Pay for Success (PFS) arena, spearheading outcomes-focused funding to addressing social challenges. And prior, as NFF's California Market Director, she led growth of NFF's consulting services in California.
 
Before NFF, she served as a Vice President at Citi Community Capital, a division of Citigroup, where she provided structured financing and impact investment to national nonprofit and CDFI clients. She holds a Master in Public Administration in nonprofit management from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Virginia.

Nuin-Tara Key is Executive Director of Programs at California Forward. In this role, she supports the overall strategy and development of programs across the organization. She has nearly 20 years of experience in climate adaptation and mitigation policy, climate finance, urban and regional planning, and social and environmental equity. 

Prior to joining CA FWD, Nuin-Tara served as a Senior Advisor and Consultant, including working with Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) to stand up the Mediterranean Climate Action Partnership (MCAP) and support implementation of the California Resilience Partnership (CRP). She served as Director of the North America Public Sector Practice in the Climate and Resilience Hub (CRH) at WTW, a global risk and insurance firm, working with public sector clients to better manage climate risks and guide the transition to a net zero economy. 

From 2016-2022, Nuin-Tara worked in the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) as an appointee under Governors Brown and Newson, including as Deputy Director for Climate Resilience. As part of the executive team, Nuin-Tara built the State’s Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program and oversaw development of state adaptation planning and implementation grant programs, the Fifth California Climate Change Assessment – including building the first of its kind Tribal Climate Research Grant Program – and coordinated the state’s climate risk disclosure agenda, including integration of physical climate risk into state asset investments. She also served as Chair of the ICARP Technical Advisory Council and oversaw the development of the State’s Climate Adaptation Clearinghouse. Nuin-Tara also served as the state lead for long-term Community Planning and Capacity Building, under that California Disaster Recovery Framework. 

Prior to OPR, Nuin-Tara co-founded an international initiative on community-based climate action, combining documentary film and policy research. She has worked in local and regional government, including building the first Regional Racial Equity Program at Metro, the regional government in Portland, OR. She has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University and a BA from Lewis and Clark College.