Washington, DC, 23 February 2022 | Standards body Verra announced today that Naomi Swickard, Chief Program Officer, will leave the organization at the end of February to join climate solutions provider South Pole.

“Naomi’s leadership of the Program Team has resulted in many important changes and improvements to all our programs. She has led our team through a massive scaling of our operations and leaves us with a very strong foundation that will serve us well long into the future. Naomi has also been instrumental in identifying new opportunities for Verra, and the Jurisdictional and Nested REDD (JNR) framework would not exist without her tireless leadership, creativity and ability to think ahead.”—David Antonioli, Chief Executive Officer, Verra

Ms. Swickard’s role will be filled through an open and competitive global search process. In the interim, Verra’s programs will be managed by senior staff, including Jerry Seager, Senior Director, Greenhouse Gas Programs, who will manage the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, and Patrick Crist, Director, Sustainable Development Programs, who will manage the Sustainable Development Verified Impact Standard (SD VISta) and the Plastic Waste Reduction Program (Plastic Program), as well as Verra’s involvement in LandScale.

For more information, please contact:

Steve Zwick, Senior Manager, Media Relations, szwick@verra.org [Nairobi]
Anne Thiel, Senior Manager, Communications, athiel@verra.org [Washington DC]

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Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, as well as other programs in environmental and social markets. Verra is committed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards, tools, and programs that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.