Sherri Goodman
Sherri Goodman is Senior Strategist at the Center for Climate and Security, a member of its Advisory Board, Chair of the Board of the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR), and Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS). She is also a Senior Fellow with the Wilson Center. Prior to this role, she was CEO and President of the Ocean Leadership Consortium, and Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of CNA.
Known as an innovative and multidisciplinary leader, Ms. Goodman has been recognized for her leadership in creating the CNA Military Advisory Board and leading its projects on National Security and the Threat of Climate Change (2007), Powering America’s Defense: Energy & the Risks to National Security (2009), Powering America’s Economy: Energy Innovation at the Crossroads of National Security Challenges(2010), and Ensuring America’s Freedom of Movement: A National Security Imperative to Reduce US Oil Dependence (2011).
From 1993 to 2001, Ms. Goodman served as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). As the chief environmental, safety, and occupational health officer for the Department of Defense (DoD), she oversaw an annual budget of over $5 billion. She established the first environmental, safety and health performance metrics for the Department and, as the nation’s largest energy user, led its energy, environmental and natural resource conservation programs. Overseeing the President’s plan for revitalizing base closure communities, she ensured that 80% of base closure property became available for transfer and reuse. Ms. Goodman has twice received the DoD medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Gold Medal from the National Defense Industrial Association, and the EPA’s Climate Change Award.
Ms. Goodman served on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee for Committee Chairman Senator Sam Nunn. She has practiced law at the Goodwin Procter, serving as both a litigator and environmental attorney, and has worked at RAND and SAIC.
Ms. Goodman serves on the boards of the Atlantic Council of the U.S., including its Executive Committee, Blue Star Families, Committee on Conscience of the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Marshall Legacy Institute, National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Board of its Center for Preventive Action.
Ms. Goodman also serves on the Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy, the Joint Ocean Commission Leadership Council, and the Responsibility to Protect Working Group co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
In 2010, Ms. Goodman served on the Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel co-chaired by former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and former Secretary of Defense Bill Perry.
Ms. Goodman has testified before numerous committees of the U.S. Congress, and conducted interviews with print, television, radio and online media. She has published widely in various print and on line media and in legal and scholarly journals. She has been an Adjunct Lecturer in International Affairs and Security at the Kennedy School of Government and an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Kennedy School’s Center for Science and International Affairs.
A graduate of Amherst College, Ms. Goodman has a law degree from Harvard Law School and a masters in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Ms. Goodman is married to John B. Goodman. They have three children: Natalie, Robert and Matthew.
