Abena Ojetayo is the first Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Tallahassee, taking on the role in October 2017. She has researched and worked in various countries, including working as an energy and infrastructure planner of a town in Greece following a devastating earthquake, and managing an urban design team for the flood prone Anam New City, Nigeria, a project that was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative as a promising approach to international sustainable development.
Before coming to Tallahassee, Abena worked on climate action planning at Cornell University and supported the green building and infrastructure design effort for its NYC Tech Campus in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. She moved to Tallahassee in 2014 to serve as Florida A&M University’s first Chief Sustainability Officer and the founding Executive Director of their Sustainability Institute, tasked with building resilience across all academic and operational aspects of the university. Abena has an interdisciplinary background, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in sustainable infrastructure and a Master’s in engineering management, both from Cornell University. She is a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) accredited professional, and was named among the "10 New Faces of Civil Engineering" by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), highlighting her as one of the industry's next leaders.
Adam Jacobs is the City’s Sustainability & Resilience Manager, responsible for managing the City’s sustainability and climate resilience program and driving action across departments and with community partners. Adam has worked for the City of Tallahassee for over ten years in various roles that have advanced environmental stewardship and improved the quality of life for our community.
Adam began his career with the City in the former Environmental Policy and Energy Resources department, where he was the lead staff in drafting and implementing the ‘GreenPrint’ sustainability strategy, tracking performance and executing outreach activities such as the annual Earth Day events and Sustainable YOU Conference. Adam has also previously served as the Supervisor of the Neighborhood Affairs division, where he deepened the City’s engagement with residents, empowered them to live out sustainability principles, and helped build community resilience through design and implementation of award-winning initiatives such as the Neighborhood PREP program. Prior to working for the City, Adam was an educator, teaching environmental science and math for ten years in Jacksonville. He received his Master of Science in Planning from Florida State University, specializing in environmental planning and natural sciences.