Johanna Lawton is a Project Manager at Rebuild by Design, supporting resilient infrastructure initiatives at local, state, and national levels, as well as collaborative stakeholder engagements. Through research and design, she has contributed to various publications to advance the use of multi-benefit infrastructure, including the reports “Climate Displacement in NYC: Making Space for our Neighbors,” “Atlas of Disaster,” “Resilient Infrastructure for New York State,” “An Anthology of Ideas after Hurricane Ida,” and “Toward Rainproof NYC: Turning the Concrete Jungle into a Sponge.” 

Previously, Lawton worked for the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs as the Managing Editor of the Refuge Press, where she worked at the intersection of human rights, social justice, global development, and literature. 

Lawton is also a founding member of Resilience PAC, a member-driven political action committee dedicated to ensuring NYC adapts to climate change equitably by helping climate-forward candidates get elected to local offices, and serves as a public member of Manhattan’s Community Board 2.

She holds a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Colby College.  She is committed to working on environmental justice issues, and draws on her experiences as a lifelong New Yorker to identify local and national disaster-related inequities.