We are excited to announce that Aimee Witteman has joined Climate Imperative Director of the U.S. States Policy Initiative. Climate Imperative is an Energy Innovation project to secure just and ambitious climate wins at the scale and pace needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Prior to joining Climate Imperative, Aimee was Program Director at the McKnight Foundation for seven years, where she designed and led the Midwest Climate & Energy program, aimed at taking bold action on the climate crisis by dramatically cutting carbon pollution in the Midwest by 2030. In her last year at McKnight, Aimee doubled the program’s grantmaking portfolio and expanded its scope to include decarbonization of the power, buildings, transportation, and working lands sectors, embedding a focus on strategic democratic participation and racial equity. In this role, she also founded and chaired the Midwest Clean Energy Funders group and served on the governing committee of the national Climate and Energy Funders group.
Aimee previously served as McKnight’s Environment program officer specializing in water quality and agriculture systems. Outside of philanthropy, she has held leadership positions at several nonprofit organizations, guiding public policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, and coalition campaign efforts. Aimee also served as the first executive director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in Washington, D.C. where she advocated for federal policy reform to advance the sustainability of agriculture, food systems, natural resources, and rural communities.
An avid fan of nature and the outdoors, Aimee currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We wish Aimee the best of luck and look forward to the future impact of Climate Imperative’s important work.