Jessica Clogg is the Executive Director and Senior Counsel at West Coast Environmental Law. She has had a passion for environmental law after being inspired from an incident in her childhood. While growing up in a town dependent on logging, the clearcutting in her area of town caused flooding that washed houses away. Clogg then sought to understand why and how that happens.

When Clogg started out in environmental law, she was one of only a few women lawyers in the field. She has a vivid memory of showing up to a lengthy negotiation regarding forest certification standards, and being the only woman present. When she joined West Coast Environmental Law in 2012, she was the only woman in an Executive Director position among the national environmental agencies. Since then, Clogg has noticed a shift, with many more women lawyers currently practising environmental law.

Right now, Clogg is leading a program called “Climate Law in Our Hands.” The program is about demanding accountability from polluters for climate harm, which may eventually lead to a class action lawsuit brought by local communities affected by pollution. She is currently engaging at the community level to be in dialogue with citizens about the harm they experience from pollution and the impact of climate change. Her aim is to build dialogue from the ground up to support and sustain the interest of others to hold fossil fuel polluters accountable.