Jessica Varat
Deputy Chief of Party, Countering Nature Crime
Jessica is the Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID Countering Nature Crime (CNC) project. In this role, she oversees day-to-day operations and project implementation, in support of the Chief of Party. The CNC initiative is a five-year, $25 million project under WRI’s Natural Resource and Governance Policy initiative. To implement CNC, WRI leads a consortium of organizations including the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and the Meridian Institute. CNC aims to detect, prevent, and deter nature crimes, including illegal fishing, illegal wildlife trafficking and harvesting, illegal logging, and illegal deforestation to produce export commodities.
Prior to this role, she was Senior Manager for Government Partnerships at WRI where she managed fundraising and stewardship efforts for select government partners as part of the Global Development Team. Prior to joining WRI, she worked at the Pan American Development Foundation, Partners Global, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and as a consultant for the World Bank, contributing research to the World Bank’s work on violence reduction in the Americas.
Jessica holds a B.A. in International Relations from Wellesley College and a Masters of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, where she specialized in conflict resolution and human security.