About our Team - Executive Climate Office

Marissa Aho, AICP has served as the first Director of the Executive Climate Office for King County Washington since July 2023. She leads a growing team that is charged with advancing and accelerating climate action to make a more sustainable, equitable and resilient King County.

Aho previously served as Policy Director/Chief Resilience Officer for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. She began her public service career as the first Chief Resilience Officer for the city of Los Angeles as part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities program and then served as the first Chief Resilience Officer for the city of Houston after Hurricane Harvey. Aho led the development and implementation of the cities’ resilience strategies (Resilient Los Angeles and Resilient Houston) that are focused on preparing for catastrophic events and addressing chronic stressors.

Prior to public service, she was a private urban planning and land use consultant in Southern California. She served as an editor of the 5th National Climate Assessment and is an Advisor to the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society. Aho holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics and Government (CLEG) from American University and a Master of Planning degree from the University of Southern California.

Michael Carter serves as Climate and Workforce Manager at King County’s Executive Climate Office (ECO).

His work connects communities affected by climate change with living-wage employment opportunities related to clean energy deployment and climate. He leads a portfolio including King County's Green Jobs Strategy and workforce development program King County JumpStart. In addition, he serves as co-chair of the Coalition for Climate Careers, a public-private partnership increasing access to the green economy for underrepresented groups.

Michael is committed to bridging the gap between skilled trades and clean energy deployment, and to ensuring equitable access to living-wage jobs for frontline communities impacted by climate change. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), where his research focused on integrating workforce development into local government climate action plans.

Carrie Lee serves as Greenhouse Gas Reduction Manager for the King County Executive Climate Office (ECO), where she leads work with internal and external partners to reduce emissions from County operations the broader community. She also serves as co-lead to the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C) Staff Steering Committee.

Lee is passionate about activating local government's role in tackling climate change and serves as a subject matter expert on climate mitigation policy, carbon pricing and low-carbon cities.

Prior to joining ECO, Lee led Metro Transit’s Sustainability and Climate Program and was a staff scientist at the Seattle office of the Stockholm Environment Institute. There, she provided technical policy research on climate policy and sustainable development to public and NGO partners.

Vicky Raya is the Climate Equity Manager for the King County Executive Climate Office. Raya leads efforts to implement King County’s first climate justice framework: the Sustainable & Resilient Frontline Communities section of the Strategic Climate Action Plan, co-created with the Climate Equity Community Task Force. As part of this work Raya expands community partnerships and engagement, and provides guidance on equitable climate policy. 

Previously Raya worked as a racial equity and planning strategic advisor for Seattle Public Utilities, and served as a senior associate with the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle. She graduated from the University of Washington, where she studied integrated social science.

Ross Freeman is the Electric Vehicle Program Manager for the King County Executive Climate Office. He supports efforts to secure public EV charging grants and infrastructure, handles internal and external EV planning and policy work, and coordinates with partners across the county; he also helps lead a countywide collaborative for other climate initiatives.

Previously Freeman worked as sustainability and communications manager for the City of Mercer Island; and prior to that, launched the sustainability program for Stevens Pass Mountain Resort. He holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied conservation biology & sustainable development.

Nicole Sanders is the Building Decarbonization Program Manager for the King County Executive Climate Office, developing plans, programs and initiatives to reduce the climate impacts of buildings across King County. This work includes working with other staff to develop a King County Building Decarbonization Strategy; supervising the Energize program that provides heat pump and efficiency improvements in buildings; supporting implementation of the multi-county Climate Pollution Reduction Grant; applying for funding to support building incentives and programs; and collaborating with other governments and organizations to support building programs.

Nicole previously worked with the King County Department of Local Services as a Green Building Principal Planner, and before that she was a Senior Climate and Long-range Planner for the City of Snoqualmie. She holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of California, Davis and a master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Washington.

Anoushka is the Climate and Workforce Project Manager in the Executive Climate Office, where her role centers on the implementation of the countywide Green Jobs Strategy (soon to be the Climate and Workforce Strategy). At the intersection of climate action and workforce development, Anoushka works to build accessible climate-informed career pathways, manage community outreach and engagement efforts, and support the integration of workforce development into clean energy deployment initiatives.

Anoushka is a graduate of the University of Washington College of the Environment and is passionate about building equitable access and opportunity in the transition to a greener economy.

Samara oversees ECO's Climate Justice Learning Series, co-manages the Community Climate Resilience Grant Program and supports the growth and evolution of the Climate Equity Community Task Force and their partnership with King County on the Sustainable and Resilience Frontline Communities section of the Strategic Climate Action Plan.

Samara has a background in multimedia storytelling, community organizing and environmental justice education. Samara previously worked for the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS) and is a Doris Duke Conservations Scholars Program 2019 alumna.

Medha Kumar is a community energy fellow with King County ECO. As part of her role, she supports building decarbonization initiatives. She previously worked for ECO as an intern int he NextGen program and earned a bachelor's degree in environmental science at the University of Washington.

Neil Larsen is the Energize Project Manager for the King County Executive Climate Office. Energize provides heat pump and other building electrification improvements to income-qualified residents in King County. Larsen also supports the implementation of key building decarbonization and clean energy programs.

Prior to joining the County, he was the executive director at a youth vocational training organization in the Bay Area and worked within nonprofits managing grants, fundraising and development. He holds a master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, where he studied energy and environmental policy.

Riley Lynch is the Multifamily Building Decarbonization Program Manager. She leads work to reduce operational carbon in affordable housing building stock while increasing the health, comfort, and livability for residents of King County. Lynch's past experience includes climate policy development and advocacy, as well as green building in commercial and multifamily real estate.

Lynch has a background working to increase energy efficiency and reduce operational carbon of large buildings in the cities of Seattle and Bellevue through an integrated approach of owner engagement, building performance analysis, and resource tracking and distribution. She holds a degree in Earth Systems from Stanford University.

 Thuch Mam is the Executive Assistant for King County ECO. Mam designs and implements administrative processes and procedures to ensure the smooth and effective operation of the office. Mam serves as the primary point of contact for the Climate Director and plays a key role in planning, developing and providing logistical support for meetings, along with ensuring an efficient flow of information across all levels of the organization.

Mam has spent her professional career in government from the state to city, social services to higher education. She loves change and new experiences and is excited to join King County’s Climate Team as they develop and prioritize the County’s climate action.