Naomi Basik Treanor is Senior Manager for the Forests for People and Climate Initiative, which aims to unlock new investment at scale to halt tropical deforestation and move funding directly to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. As WRI’s focal point for incubation of the FPCI Naomi is leading the establishment of a new monitoring, evaluation, and learning system and providing related data analysis across geographies and scales.

Naomi brings 13 years of experience working on land and forest governance. Prior to joining WRI, she was an Associate Director with the Forest Policy, Trade, and Finance Initiative at Forest Trends where she designed and published research on China’s tropical forest footprint and links to illegal sourcing, forest product supply chains, and social issues such as livelihoods, tenure security, and conflict. Through this work, she has advised donors, producer- and consumer-country governments, and civil society, presenting data that now underpins key strategies for addressing illegal deforestation and protecting threatened timber species. Previously, she supported the Rights and Resources Initiative’s work in Asia, working closely with a coalition of civil society organizations advocating for forest tenure reform. Throughout her career, she has maintained a focus on crafting theories of change and measuring impact.

Naomi holds an M.A. in International Development Studies from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a B.A. in East Asian studies from Oberlin College. She lives in Washington, DC with her family.