Heather Lair is a Senior Mediator and Program Manager in Meridian Institute’s Washington, DC, office. Meridian Institute brings diverse groups of people together to address challenging public policy issues related to natural resources, sustainability, and resilience. Heather serves as Chief of Staff to AGree: Transforming Food & Ag Policy, an eight-year foundation-funded effort to elevate food and agriculture as a national priority in the United States. She also supports Meridian’s domestic and international ocean policy and conservation projects, including the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, for which Meridian serves as the secretariat. Other recent work has focused on food security and agricultural technology applications in Africa and participatory approaches to increasing community and regional resilience in the United States. Previously, Heather worked at the University of Maryland’s Office of Sustainability as a facilitator of campus partnerships, where she focused on climate and energy-efficiency strategies, including developing the university’s first Climate Action Plan. She began her career as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras.