Kendra Abkowitz

Chief Sustainability and Resilience Officer

Metro Nashville and Davidson County, Office of Mayor John Cooper

Kendra Abkowitz’s work in the Nashville mayor’s office includes an aim to source 35% of the metro area’s energy from renewable sources by 2025 and sustainability projects around waste and wastewater management and tree canopy growth. Previously, as assistant commissioner and director of policy and sustainable practices (2015-2021) at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Abkowitz worked with communities, businesses, academic institutions and other stakeholders to deal with pressing environmental challenges statewide. She helped design the state’s plan for deploying American Rescue Plan dollars toward water infrastructure investments. Prior to that, Abkowitz was a TDEC senior policy analyst and policy analyst (2012-2015), spearheading early efforts to design a regulatory framework for water reuse in Tennessee. She also led a statewide assessment of extreme weather vulnerabilities at Tennessee’s parks and created an energy consumption reduction plan for state-owned facilities. Before joining TDEC, Abkowitz was a Sustainability Professional in Vanderbilt University’s Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (2008-2012). She is an appointee to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s local government advisory committee; a member of the Women in Science and Engineering Affinity Group; a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council; a recipient of the Nashville Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 recognition; and a graduate of LEAD Tennessee. Abkowitz holds a doctorate in environmental management and policy from Vanderbilt University; a master’s degree in business administration from Middle Tennessee State University; a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and economics from Vanderbilt University.