Unifying for the Planet
The annual Climate Forward conference, hosted in partnership with the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, brings together leaders from across the political spectrum to explore nonpartisan solutions to the challenges associated with our changing climate.
Past speakers have included United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, lawyer and environmentalist Joanne Witty, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and more.
Climate Forward 2026
Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2026 | 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Town & Gown Ballroom, 665 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Panelists To Be Named Soon
Climate Forward 2025
Watch panel recordings from Climate Forward 2025.
Director of Hill Research Consultants, Republican Pollster, and Former CPF Fellow David Hill presentation on partisan divides around electric vehicles
Barbara Boxer: Former U.S. Senator (D-CA); Former CPF Fellow
Garret Graves: Former U.S. Representative (R-LA)
Bob Shrum (Moderator): CPF Director; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife
Climate Forward 2024
Watch panel recordings from Climate Forward 2024: Climate at the Crossroads.
White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden in conversation with USC Center for the Political Future Director Bob Shrum
Fran Pavley, Environmental Policy Director, USC Schwarzenegger Institute; Former California State Senator
Tenzin Seldon, Founding and Managing Partner, Pulse Fund
Joanne Witty, Lawyer; Environmentalist; Co-Chair, Political Committee of the Environmental Defense Action Fund
Debra Kahn (Moderator), California Policy Editor, POLITICO
JJ Flores, USC undergraduate student, International Relations and Sustainable Urban Planning
Leah Tieger, Ph.D. candidate, English (Creative Writing)