Kristen James

Senior Program Director, Water, CERES

Kirsten James directs Ceres strategy for mobilizing leading investors and companies to address the sustainability risks facing our freshwater and agriculture systems. Her work includes leading the Valuing Water Finance Initiative, an investor-led effort which seeks to drive corporate action on water-related financial risks.

Previously, Kirsten served for five years as the director of California policy and partnerships at Ceres, where she led strategy development for Ceres’s California-focused policy work, engaging companies and investors in support of public policies that call for sustainable water management, clean energy and greenhouse gas emissions reductions in California.

Prior to Ceres, Kirsten worked for nine years at a water resource-focused NGO, as their Science and Policy Director. In her personal capacity, she serves as a committee appointee for the Los Angeles County Safe, Clean Water Program and an appointee of the Speaker of the California Assembly to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Council. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in environmental science and management from the Bren School at University of California Santa Barbara.