Senior Resilience Fellows

Jainey K. Bavishi is a nationally recognized expert in the field of climate adaptation and resilience. She most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In this role, Bavishi provided  agency-wide direction to climate resilience, fisheries, coastal and ocean programs, including efforts related to NOAA’s implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.

Previously, Bavishi served in the New York City Mayor’s Office as Director of the Office of Climate Resiliency where she oversaw the implementation of climate resilience strategies for the nation’s largest city. Prior to that, she was the associate director for climate preparedness at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Bavishi has also worked in the nonprofit sector, leading an initiative that built partnerships to scale innovative approaches to disaster risk reduction in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to that, she was the head of a philanthropic initiative to build a coalition of community-based leaders focused on an equitable recovery from hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike in the Gulf Coast region.

Bavishi earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy and cultural anthropology from Duke University, and a master’s degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Victoria Salinas is a globally recognized resilience leader with over two decades of experience spanning government, philanthropy, and the private sector. As one of the world’s first Chief Resilience Officers and most recently the Deputy Administrator for Resilience at FEMA, she has helped people, businesses, and communities better prepare for threats and hazards, adapt to changing conditions, and withstand and recover rapidly from adverse conditions and disruptions.

At FEMA, Victoria worked to strengthen resilience nationwide, providing strategic oversight of the National Flood Insurance Program and spearheading implementation of the Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act. As Oakland’s first Chief Resilience Officer, she led citywide efforts to address climate threats, earthquakes, and socio-economic vulnerabilities. As Senior Vice President at FUSE, she scaled an executive fellowship program that placed private-sector leaders in local governments to tackle pressing issues like climate resilience and economic development. At the World Bank and United Nations, she managed multimillion-dollar portfolios, advised governments, coordinated high-level policy initiatives, and provided post-disaster recovery support around the world.

Victoria holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. A Chilean-American, she grew up in Austin, Texas, and considers Oakland her second home. She is a proud mother of two young boys and is married to an entrepreneur.