LOS ANGELES — Matthew Gonser has been named the new climate resilience officer for Los Angeles County, according to an announcement today from Rita Kampalath, the county’s chief sustainability officer.
Gonser, who most recently served from January 2021 as chief resilience officer for the city and county of Honolulu and executive director for the office of climate change, sustainability and resiliency, will be responsible for implementing the climate resilience initiative passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2022. That measure directs the chief sustainability office, with other key departments, to implement comprehensive measures to increase climate resilience throughout the county.
Working with the board, county department heads and the general public, Gonser will be charged with finding community-driven solutions to such risks as intensifying heat, drought, wildfires and flooding and other challenges outlined in the county’s Climate Vulnerability Assessment.
Specific actions will be detailed when the climate resilience initiative is finalized in late 2025. The Initiative will be included in the scheduled update of the OurCounty sustainability plan, the most ambitious regional sustainability blueprint in the nation.
During his seven-year tenure with the Honolulu resilience office, Gonser focused on coastal and water issues, climate adaptation and natural hazards mitigation, and sea level rise and community forestry. He supported and led efforts for the adoption and implementation of Honolulu’s resilience strategy (2019), climate action plan (2021), and climate adaptation strategy (2024), including new ordinances, projects, and grants. Before this civic work, Gonser served as a community planning expert with the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant college program.
“The power of policy is keeping everyone in the County focused on the day-in-and-day-out of climate resilience,” said Gonser, who holds master’s degrees in regional planning and landscape architecture from Cornell University. “I am committed to working with residents, organizations, agencies, and cities to make sure that all this work is done for the benefit of the diverse communities we serve.”
Details: To read more about Gonser’s background and strategies, please read this blog post.