Ritika Philip — File 26-1093

Please select the top three areas in which you have working knowledge, strong interest, and/or experience: Social Resiliency Infrastructure Resiliency Municipal and School Operations Statement of Interest: When I went to a whole-house sale in Somerville last year, I expected to spend 30 minutes browsing and pick up one or two items. Instead, I stayed for hours learning about my neighbor’s journey as a dressmaker turned psychologist, gave a second home to some beautiful antiques, and got my first taste of Somerville’s neighborly love. This experience and many others like it motivate me to join the Climate Action Commission: because the most enduring climate action is built by and for communities where neighbors care for neighbors. I want to be part of a democratic institution that brings that community voice to the city to prioritize and bring to life the actions in Climate Forward. My 12-week sustainability fellowship with Terra.do gave me a robust foundation across climate topics, but my background and interests draw me to social resiliency, infrastructure resiliency, and municipal and school operations. On social resiliency: when I was a consultant, I organized weekly pickup soccer for our office and it was transformative for the culture. After playing soccer together, people from different departments befriended one another and found it easier to ask for help at work. This is exactly the kind of social infrastructure that a Tufts University study found saves lives during climate disasters; researchers studying Boston neighborhoods at risk of flooding and heatwaves found that the more connected people were with neighbors, church communities, and colleagues, the more likely they were to know what resources and services they could access during extreme weather. I want to amplify the existing work already being done in Somerville to build community resilience (e.g., Maple Syrup boil at the Community Garden, emergency preparedness workshops at the libraries, block party grants), with events like the free Climate Fresk workshop I’m hosting during Boston Climate Week. In it, neighbors will work with each other to map climate systems and discuss collective solutions. On infrastructure resiliency: as a volunteer ranger at Regent's Park in London, I saw firsthand how well-designed parks can support local biodiversity (e.g., hedgehogs, bats),

protect city infrastructure (stormwater storage), and connect city residents by serving as a free public space. Doing a walk with Green Cambridge showed me how the Alewife Brook park similarly functions as a win-win-win for nature, physical infrastructure, and residents. As Somerville faces increasing climate risks with coastal flooding, stormwater flooding, and extreme heat, I am keen to support efforts that strengthen and expand green infrastructure. On municipal and school operations: as a former Chief of Staff to a global education non- profit, I led a project, in collaboration with a consulting firm, to establish the first-ever network-wide sustainability baseline and 2030 targets across all schools. A core challenge we faced was that the schools were spread across different geographies, each managing their own fleets and facilities, so systems-change was hard to coordinate. In the case of Somerville, I see the huge potential as envisioned in Climate Forward of a unified network with collective power to set shared emissions standards and electrify the fleet. I’d bring my experience working in a school network, and my current volunteer work as a tutor in Somerville Public Schools, to support the existing efforts to expand climate integration into the curriculum and make the most of that collective leverage. Somerville has already given me – a new neighbor – such a warm welcome. I'd love the chance to give something back through the Climate Action Commission and ensure that the Somerville community thrives for generations to come.