Our Team / Asma Mahdi
Asma guides clients in navigating the policy and communications complexities of climate displacement and migration. Her work includes delivering equitable, multi-sector strategies that strengthen communities.
She brings more than 15 years of experience developing environmental and climate policies and communications strategies to support communities across the U.S. Most recently she contributed to a state of California report examining how energy and water resources contribute to population shifts in response to climate-related events.
Asma also leads efforts to expand equitable access to nature and advance climate justice. As an advisor, she led the team that supported the California Deputy Secretary of Access in shaping the Outdoors for All initiative, creating a statewide strategy to ensure all Californians can access the outdoors. She also spearheaded the California Ocean Protection Council’s Equity Plan, defining clear strategies and actions to drive equity and environmental justice across programs and policies. In Oregon, Asma co-led the multi-agency Climate Equity Committee to develop the Climate Equity Blueprint, offering state leaders and agencies practical guidance and best practices to integrate climate justice into policy and decision-making.
Prior to Better World Group, she led communications for the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge – a university-wide initiative focused on developing technologies, policies, and strategies to transition L.A. County to 100% renewable energy, 100% local water, and enhanced ecosystem health by 2050. She also managed national outreach and communications for the NOAA Marine Debris Program and co-wrote the Regional Emmy Award-winning special feature Trash Talk, an educational series on ocean pollution and the impacts of plastics.
Asma was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the California State Parks and Recreation Commission, where she served from 2020 to 2023. She previously served as a board director of Green Muslims, a faith-based nonprofit in Washington, D.C., from 2014 to 2017.
Asma earned her bachelor’s in geography and environmental studies at UCLA and her master’s of environmental science and management from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara.