Shrayas Jatkar

Shrayas joined the Equity, Climate, and Jobs team at the California Workforce Development Board in November 2017. His work includes overseeing a major study to the state legislature about economic and workforce development issues linked to meeting California’s climate protection targets, and leading the Board’s transportation workforce policy initiatives. Previously, Shrayas worked on state transportation policy as an advocate with Coalition for Clean Air (CCA), helping to secure historic levels of funding for innovative low-carbon transportation programs and spearheading new campaigns to address pollution from freight transport. While at CCA, Shrayas also played a leading role in passage of Assembly Bill 1550 to ensure disadvantaged communities receive a fair share of climate investments from California’s cap-and-trade program.
Shrayas earned his M.S. in Community Development at the University of California, Davis in 2016 where his research focused on environmental and economic justice. His Master’s thesis explored the barriers to employment in “green industries” that Asian immigrant populations face. As a student researcher with UC Davis’ Center for Regional Change, Shrayas co-authored a report about a pioneering environmental justice monitoring system, the Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods (IVAN) program.
Shrayas worked on energy and climate policy in New Mexico prior to moving to California. As the Sierra Club’s lead energy organizer from 2007-2013, he formed diverse coalitions that got cities and eventually the state to adopt energy-efficient building codes. Shrayas also established volunteer teams that took on a variety of campaigns, including retirement of coal-fired power plants, electing pro-environment candidates, and educational programming with local schools. Shrayas cut his teeth as a community environmental organizer working with Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping where he helped block a nuclear waste reprocessing plant from coming to Roswell, New Mexico under the Bush Administration’s failed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
Shrayas has served in a number of leadership roles, including the Board of Directors of the California Hydrogen Business Council and SouthWest Organizing Project, a leading environmental justice organization based in New Mexico. Shrayas also served on the City of Albuquerque Energy Council.