Cessi is Interim Operations Director for CPL Berkeley, where she supports core business functions, including HR, finance, and the day-to-day operation of the office. She has 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector supporting community organizations, rights advocacy groups and humanitarian institutions, as well as municipal government. Most recently she spent 8 years launching and implementing an intergovernmental climate resilience initiative at the United Nations Development Programme, where she managed research, grew partnerships, and oversaw grants and pilot projects, as well as cultivated a deep appreciation for the way carefully designed and managed systems, paired with robust information infrastructure, can enable innovation within and between large public institutions.

Having returned to California, where she spent half her childhood, she is proud to now join CPL in harnessing innovative research, data analysis and partnership-building to better the lives of her fellow Californians while improving public policy and decision-making processes across the state.

She and her husband spend most of their free time wrangling their toddler and enjoy hunting for pockets of time to hike, surf, bike, camp, or simply finish reading an article. She holds an MPhil in Development Studies from Cambridge University and a BA in Political Science from Vassar College.