Kristin Marcell

Kristin Marcell is the director of the Climigration Network, a growing national network that brings together people with lived and learned expertise to advance transformative, community-led approaches to climate displacement and relocation in the U.S. The Network believes deeply that the people most affected by climate change hold the knowledge and vision needed to lead the way forward, and that belief shows up in everything the Network does.

They are building a movement rooted in the wisdom and experience of community. It is led by Indigenous leaders and local organizers, and grounded in a bedrock of relationships and high-trust collaborative efforts that hold the flexibility to address the unique needs of individual communities.

The Climigration Network hosts the Next Step Cohort, an award-winning peer learning and participatory grantmaking initiative. It puts real dollars, partnership and technical resources into the hands of communities navigating the climate crisis, disaster recovery and climate-driven displacement. They also develop collaborative teams that co-design, test and implement resilience and relocation strategies with community leaders. The Network unlocks human ingenuity, supporting bold and rapid, proof-of-concept experimentation, and sharing that learning out with the world.

Before stepping into her role as Network director, Marcell worked for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and Cornell University. There, she built networks of agency, university, municipal and nonprofit partners to implement national models for climate policy including the NYS Climate Smart Communities Program and NYS Community Risk and Resiliency Act. Marcell lives with her wife and family in East Wenatchee, WA.