Sherri Goodman

Sherri Goodman is the author of Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership and the Fight for Global Security. She is a Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program and Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security (IMCCS).

Sherri chairs the Board of the Council on Strategic Risks and chairs the External Advisory Board on Energy and Homeland Security for Sandia National Laboratories. Sherri is a Board Director of the Atlantic Council and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Sherri is the former President and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. She served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CNA (U.S. Center for Naval Analyses). She is the founder and Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board, whose landmark reports include National Security and the Threat of Climate Change (2007), and Advanced Energy and US National Security (2017).

Sherri served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security) (1993-2001), where she was responsible for environmental, energy, safety and occupational health for the U.S. Department of Defense. Sherri served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee where she was responsible for oversight of the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex.

Sherri has received an Honorary Doctorate from Amherst College in 2018, the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and 2001, the Gold Medal Award from the National Defense Industrial Organization in 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Award in 2000, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Peacebuilding Association in 2024.

Sherri has appeared on CNN, PBS NewsHour, BBC, NPR, and other major media. She has testified before many congressional committees as a leading authority on sustainability, energy, and climate security. She has taught and delivered lectures at numerous universities and has appeared in several films, including The Age of Consequences, Journey to Planet Earth, Carbon Nation, and From Paris to Pittsburgh. Sherri has degrees from Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Amherst College, where she was co-founder of the Women’s Ski Team.