Expertise: Climate Change and Conflict
Swathi Veeravalli is the Principal of General Resilience Solutions and a Research Advisor to the Toda Peace Institute, where she brings together two decades of experience at the nexus of climate change, security, and institutional resilience. Most recently, she served as Director for Climate Security & Adaptation at the White House National Security Council, where she led interagency efforts to embed climate resilience into U.S. national security planning and strategy. Her career spans senior roles at U.S. Africa Command, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and USAID, giving her a unique perspective on how climate risks converge with conflict dynamics, fragile governance, and military logistics. She has worked in more than 80 countries across six continents, advising governments, militaries, and international organizations on building adaptive capacity and operational resilience. Alongside her practice, Swathi is pursuing a PhD at Wageningen University, examining how global security institutions adapt to climate change. Her research bridges theory and practice, advancing frameworks for resilience that are both actionable and scalable. She is widely recognized for her ability to translate complex climate-security risks into strategies that inform decision-making at the highest levels of government and international policy.