Braden Kay
Government Sustainability Executive
Braden Kay is the new Extreme Heat Program Manager in California’s Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. Recently, he was the founding Sustainability and Resilience Director for the City of Tempe in Arizona. Braden grew the office from one to six full time employees, including building programs in youth climate action, energy equity, local food, and resilience to extreme heat. Braden developed community co-created climate action plans, tripled capital investments in resilient infrastructure, and brought in over 3.5 Million dollars in grant funds from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, USDA, NSF, FEMA, State Farm, USDN, and local foundations. Braden has held sustainability program manager positions at the City of Tempe, Arizona State University and the City of Orlando. Braden received a PhD in Sustainability from Arizona State University and a BA in American Studies from Carleton College (MN). He was the Vice-chair of the Planning and Advisory Committee for the Urban Sustainability Directors Network and was the Chair of the Steering Committee of the Sustainable Cities Network. Braden currently serves on the Local Support Commission’s Emerging Leaders Council, the International WELL Buildings Institute Advisory Board and is the co-chair of the Western Adaptation Alliance.