Sonia Joshi is the Senior Director of U.S. programs. In this role, she works with the U.S. program team in the overall management, implementation, and business development of the U.S. program. Sonia sets the directional vision to prioritize equitable community-led climate resilience and justice within the U.S. programs portfolio.
Sonia originally joined ISC as an Associate Director before becoming the Director of U.S. Programs. Before joining ISC, Sonia worked as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Program Manager for the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) at the University of Michigan, facilitating workshops and leading dialogues about race, privilege and the environment. Prior to SEAS, Sonia spent eleven years as a federal agency Program Manager and Outreach Coordinator in a joint position between the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and the N.O.A.A. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory managing the NOAA Center of Excellence for Great Lakes and Human Health and the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research. She established partnerships with public health officials, frontline communities, and local to national environmental stakeholder groups centered on topics of water, climate and health. Sonia developed award-winning multi-state community programs to address needs in local communities to minimize water quality-based health impacts, with an equity lens.
Sonia holds a Master’s of Science in Human Dimensions of Fisheries and Wildlife with a specialization in Gender, Justice, & Environmental Change from Michigan State University, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science.