Rwaida is a strategic and creative advisor and writer working at the intersection of climate, culture, and advocacy. Her work supports organizations that bring together storytelling, policy, and systems thinking to help shape more just and effective approaches to climate finance, energy access, and community-centered development. She has previously served as a senior consultant with the World Bank Group, supporting climate finance, energy access and just transition efforts focused on women and displaced communities. Earlier in her career, she led strategic communications for President Barack Obama’s Power Africa initiative, where her work helped drive policy change, build public–private partnerships, and secure billions in funding for energy infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa. She held multiple roles as an aid worker and advisor.

Her PhD research explores the realities of climate-induced displacement and the realities of post-disaster support for communities who are on the frontlines of environmental hazard. As a behavioral scientist, she researches recovery and adaptation efforts in the Global South, grounded in field research across East Africa and Central America, but also here at home in California where she researches the social impacts of wildfire recovery. Through explorations of narrative structures, legal categorization, and financial allocations she is reshaping how climate risks and resilience are interpreted within policy and institutional settings.

Raised in Los Angeles between the Mojave Desert, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean, and born on the Red Sea to Egyptian parents, Rwaida’s work is rooted in a lifelong relationship with land and water. She is committed to telling stories that connect people, environments, and systems in service of a more just future.