Aiyana Bodi leads employee engagement with Drawdown Labs, working with corporate partners and their employees to scale climate solutions in more meaningful and impactful ways. She develops and manages resources, media, and other initiatives to show non-sustainability employees tangible ways they can make their jobs climate jobs. She uses her expertise in communications, research, and design to help people find their place in the broader ecosystem of change – turning their climate concern into action. Aiyana is passionate about climate justice and sees employee activation as a vehicle for just and equitable solutions that not only help organizations reduce emissions, but also empower workers.
Aiyana joined Project Drawdown with a background in natural climate solutions and policy. Previously, she worked at a land trust where she engaged policymakers and other stakeholders to bolster forest conservation and climate policies at state and federal levels. Aiyana served as a fellow at Mighty Earth, where she conducted a meta-analysis on the social, economic, and environmental benefits of agroforestry to inform advocacy efforts and engaged with global rubber industry representatives to promote sustainable supply chain practices. Aiyana has also worked at a number of other small environmental nonprofits coordinating membership, events, and social media.
Aiyana holds a master of public administration in environmental science and policy from Columbia University, where she worked as a research assistant to a lead author of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, led a consulting project for the World Resources Institute on global land restoration policies, and conducted an independent study on climate communications. She earned a bachelor of science in ecology and geology from the College of William & Mary in Virginia, her home state. She is now based in Brooklyn, New York. In her free time, Aiyana is an avid functional potter and kimchi maker.