Lara Whitely Binder

Lara Whitely Binder is the Climate Preparedness Program Manager for King County, Washington. In this role, Lara is responsible for working with King County agencies to prepare for the impacts of climate change and strengthening regional partnerships to address shared challenges and opportunities around climate preparedness. Prior to joining King County in 2017, Lara served as Senior Strategist for the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group, the region’s leading resource for research on climate impacts and adaptation practice in the Pacific Northwest.
Lara has worked extensively with federal, state, local, and tribal agencies in the Northwest to address the impacts of climate variability and change. This includes facilitating vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning processes, providing technical guidance on integrating climate change into decision making, communicating information on climate impacts and risks, and conducting research designed to support preparing for climate change. Lara holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.