Liz Crosson recently joined the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California as its first Chief Sustainability, Resiliency and Innovation Officer. She previously served as a consultant to the LA County Chief Sustainability Office as the team’s liaison to the 88 LA cities and as a resource on sustainability and climate for municipal sustainability staff. She also previously served as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Director of Infrastructure and was the Mayor’s chief policy liaison to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and the five bureaus under the Department of Public Works. For the Mayor, she was charged with delivering the Mayor’s bold agenda on water, energy, waste and public right of way infrastructure. She also previously served as the Mayor’s Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer and his first appointed Water Policy Advisor. From 2010-2015, Liz was the Executive Director of Los Angeles Waterkeeper, a nonprofit organization that protects and restores waterways throughout Los Angeles County through Clean Water Act enforcement, advocacy, restoration and community action.

She received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California-Berkeley and earned a master’s degree in Biology from Southern Oregon University and a juris doctorate from Lewis & Clark Law School, where she graduated with honors and a certificate in environmental law.