Sherri Goodman

First Ever Pentagon Chief Environmental Officer & Author

Sherri Goodman

First Ever Pentagon Chief Environmental Officer & Author

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Biography

A pioneer in sustainability and national security, Sherri Goodman is one of the most respected international voices on emerging global risks, including energy and climate security, environment, and public health. The Pentagon’s first ever Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security), Sherri led efforts to transform the Department of Defense to a leader in sustainability, climate resilience, and advanced energy. Her book Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security, gives readers an inside account, from the Pentagon to the battlefield, of today’s military on the front lines of a changing climate, the energy transition, technology upheavals, and new health challenges. Sherri is recognized for her ability to blend a compelling strategic vision with operational execution to strengthen national security and mission readiness. An experienced “change agent” for large institutions, including the US Department of Defense, Sherri has founded, led, or advised over a dozen public and private sector organizations for sustainable success.

Using her famous coinage “threat multiplier,” Sherri is credited with educating a generation of US military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, fundamentally shaping the field of climate and energy security. As the founder and first Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board on Climate Change and National Security, she led the first efforts to assess the national security implications of climate change as a strategic imperative. This work led to more than a decade of bipartisan action on building energy and climate resilience in defense missions and protecting troops from growing biological and other health risks to protect resilience and troop health. Today, Sherri serves as the Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security, the leading international organization for national security and military leaders on climate and energy security, and as a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center. Sherri advises governments and private firms on sustainability, energy, climate, and technology opportunities.

Recognized by both military and environmental officials for her leadership in national security, energy, and sustainability, Sherri has twice received the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, as well as an Honorary Doctorate from Amherst College.

A sought-after speaker for domestic and international audiences, Sherri has appeared on CNN, PBS NewsHour, BBC, NPR, and other major media. She is equally comfortable with keynotes and fireside chat formats. She has testified before many congressional committees as a leading authority on sustainability, energy, and climate security. She has taught and delivered lectures at numerous universities and has appeared in several films, including The Age of Consequences, Journey to Planet Earth, Carbon Nation, and From Paris to Pittsburgh. Sherri has degrees from Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Amherst College, where she was co-founder of the Women’s Ski Team.

Speaker Videos

Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security

Sherri Goodman on CBS News

Speech Topics

Climate Change: The New National Security Risk

How is climate change a risk to our nation’s security, both at home and abroad? In this wide-ranging talk, the Pentagon’s first Chief Environmental Officer shares new insights from her Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security. Drawing on 30 years of experience at senior levels in the public and private sector, Sherri Goodman provides an overview of how a changing climate acts as a “threat multiplier,” a term she coined with the first group of US generals and admirals to assess the security implications of climate change. Subject areas include:

How current instabilities around the world, from terrorism to power plays by Russia and China, are made worse by a changing climate.
How the US military is confronting climate, cyber, and environmental risks, and what this means for your organization.
How the threat multiplier of climate change can become an opportunity multiplier for future resilience and prosperity, in terms of investments in infrastructure, systems, and human capacity.

Fostering American Leadership in Advanced Energy & Climate Technology

Over the last several decades, the US military transformed from an environmental laggard to a clean energy and climate leader. As one of the most influential figures in shaping this transformation, Sherri takes you through the environmental evolution of the largest federal agency. Weaving together her own personal experience with an analytic look at the changing geopolitics and security dynamics of the climate era, Sherri shares the vision, strategy, tools, and techniques that enabled the military’s clean energy transformation and improved operational readiness.

From the internet to GPS, to stealth, space, and advanced batteries, the US military has long been a leader in technological innovation. Offering lessons learned from the military’s experience as a technological trailblazer in clean energy, climate, and infrastructure resilience, this speech offers insights for business and technology leaders across many fields as we all prepare for a more sustainable future.

How to Protect Ourselves from the Health & Safety Risks of Climate Change

From disease to wildfires to extreme heat, US service members around the world face climate-induced health threats that can undermine their capacity to carry out operations. As the Pentagon’s first Chief Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health officer, Sherri has worked with military leaders on the frontlines to ensure they can perform their missions while remaining protected from unnecessary health and safety threats. In this talk, Sherri shares how the military is addressing public health risks and what that means for society.

Subject areas include:

How extreme heat, natural disasters, and infectious diseases impact our troops and infringe on our operational preparedness.
Why climate risks and health threats are increasingly inseparable.
Societal lessons learned from the military’s approach to health, safety, and readiness.

In the Room Where it Happens: Women’s Leadership in Technology & National Security

When Sherri first joined the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1987, she was the only female professional staffer. For nearly two decades, as Sherri transformed the environmental efforts of the US Military, few other women occupied the spaces she did. From Congressional Committees to the halls of the Pentagon, Sherri Goodman has demonstrated how to grow, thrive, and lead in large, complex, and male-dominated organizations. How do you conquer your fear of being one of the only or youngest women in the room? How can you present yourself with authority and grace? How do you establish the professional networks necessary for success? And how do push past skepticism and complacency to advance the causes you know are critical? Sharing insights from her 30-year career in the public and private sector, this experiential conversation is designed for the next generation of women leaders in business, government, and technology.

Arctic Security & a Changing Climate: A View into the Future

President Trump proposes to buy Greenland. Russia wants to convert the Northern Sea Route into a toll road for transportation from ports in Asia to ports in Europe. China is developing a “polar” silk road, investing in Arctic infrastructure and science. What’s happening at the top of the planet and how does it affect us? The melting Arctic is a clear example of cascading threats. The opening of a new ocean within our lifetime has transformed a once-peaceful region marked by cooperation into a flashpoint for geostrategic tensions and economic opportunity as the US, Russia, China, and others vie for presence and influence. Sherri shares her experiences working with the Russians on Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation in the 1990s and the present day efforts to address rising risks amidst shrinking ice caps. In this fascinating exploration of the Arctic and the High North, learn how this isolated area is increasingly influencing geopolitical relations.