Unlocking the power of education as a force for climate action.

Laura Schifter

Senior Fellow

Laura Schifter is a senior fellow with the Aspen Institute's Energy and Environment program leading This Is Planet Ed. Laura is also a lecturer on education with the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a fellow with the Century Foundation. Previously, she worked as a policy and research consultant with clients including Education 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Justice. She also served as a senior education and disability advisor for Rep. George Miller (D-CA) on the Committee on Education and Labor and an education fellow for Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. After graduating from college, she taught elementary school in San Francisco. Schifter earned an Ed.D. in education policy, leadership, and instructional practice and an Ed.M. in mind, brain, and education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in American studies from Amherst College.

Nikki DeVignes

Assistant Director

Nikki is the Assistant Director of Operations with the Energy and Environment Program where she leads operations, logistics, finance, and accounting as well as provides critical support for all aspects of the program’s forums and convenings. Nikki started as a summer intern working on the Aspen Environment Forum with National Geographic while attending the University of Virginia, where she attained a BA in International Relations.

Michelle Faggert

Program Associate

Michelle Faggert is a Program Associate for K12 Climate Action at the Aspen Institute. Prior to this role she served as an education policy and programs coordinator for the Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, where she worked to build bipartisan coalitions of education leaders across the country. Additionally, Michelle taught 8th grade science in Charlotte, North Carolina through Teach for America and completed a fellowship through Leadership for Educational Equity at the DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education. Michelle earned her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and recently completed her Master of Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Sophia Powless

Program Coordinator

Sophia is an indigenous climate educator, artist, and dedicated activist committed to fostering a deep understanding of climate issues and promoting the empowerment of indigenous communities. With a background working for Onondaga Nation School and The Climate Reality Project: Climate Speakers Network, Sophia has created webinars for the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community and collaborated with communities to take informed actions toward climate solutions and building sustainable futures. Growing up in the Onondaga Nation has led her work to be characterized by an unwavering commitment to amplifying the voices and experiences of indigenous communities. Sophia co-created the first celebration honoring Native American Heritage Month at Adelphi University and has spoken at SUNY ESF and the OCM BOCES Science Leadership on the Seventh Generation Principle and climate change gamification. As a graduate of the inaugural class of the Columbia Climate School, Sophia holds a Master in Arts of Climate & Society and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Adelphi University.

Sarah Robbins

Senior Program Manager

Sarah E.T. Robbins is Senior Program Manager for This is Planet Ed. She is an award-winning journalist and has travelled extensively to cover stories from the Amazon to Alaska, seeing first-hand the impacts of climate change. Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, she was Executive Producer at BBC News in the Washington, D.C. bureau, leading a team producing daily television news programs for US and global audiences. In 2013, she opened a bureau for the BBC in Rio de Janeiro. Her journalism exposed the consequences of corruption and systemic brutality in Latin America, particularly in Brazil’s favelas and the Amazon’s Indigenous communities. Robbins also worked for NPR as Senior Supervising Editor for Morning Edition, where she oversaw high-impact series, and Director, Member Partnership, where she built collaborations between NPR and member stations. She was a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan in 2011-12.

Anya Kamenetz

Senior Advisor

Anya Kamenetz speaks, writes, and thinks about generational justice, and how children learn, grow and thrive on a changing planet. She covered education as a journalist for many years including for NPR, where she also co-created the podcast Life Kit:Parenting in partnership with Sesame Workshop. Kamenetz is currently an advisor to the Aspen Institute on a new initiative to end climate silence in children’s media.

She’s the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books: Generation Debt (Riverhead, 2006); DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education (Chelsea Green, 2010) ; The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed With Standardized Testing, But You Don’t Have To Be (Public Affairs, 2016); and The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life (Public Affairs, 2018). Her latest book is The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, And Where We Go Now (Public Affairs, 2022).

Kamenetz was named a 2010 Game Changer in Education by the Huffington Post, received 2009, 2010, and 2015 National Awards for Education Reporting from the Education Writers Association, won an Edward R. Murrow Award for innovation in 2017 along with the rest of the NPR Ed team, and the 2022 AERA Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award. She’s been a New America fellow, a staff writer for Fast Company Magazine and a columnist for the Village Voice. She’s contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine and Slate, and been featured in documentaries shown on PBS, CNN, HBO and Vice. She frequently speaks on topics related to children, learning and technology, to audiences including at Google, Apple, and Sesame, SXSW and TEDx.

Kamenetz grew up in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, in a family of writers and mystics, and graduated from Yale University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.

Rory O'Sullivan

Consultant

Rory serves as an advisor on the Higher Ed Climate Action campaign. He also consults with a variety of advocacy organizations and foundations on a range of policy, strategy, fundraising, and management projects. Prior to launching his own business, he served as a Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, leading the federal higher education policy portfolio. Rory also co-founded Young Invincibles, a national advocacy organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunity and political voice for young adults ages 18 to 34. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Skills Coalition and previously served two full terms with the Campaign for College Opportunity.

Rory graduated from Pomona College in 2006 with a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and completed a joint J.D./M.P.P. in 2011 at Georgetown University.