Abigail Abrash Walton, PhD

Abigail Abrash Walton, PhD Abigail is a seasoned mission-aligned change leader, with experience at multiple scales including organizational, municipal, state, federal, and international. She serves as faculty in Antioch University New England’s Department of Environmental Studies, where she directs the Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability master’s degree concentration and co-directs Antioch’s Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience. Her public engagement, research, and teaching focus on change leadership and translating values into effective action, particularly regarding environmental and social performance. She enjoys the spirit and practice of innovation and has played a central role in launching Antioch’s Conservation Psychology Institute and Translating Research to Inform Policy workshops and in catalyzing a national-level working group to build the capacity of scientists and researchers to engage with the public policy process.

Previously, she served as program director for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights and New Hampshire Citizens Alliance, and as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program. Abigail delights in making sense of challenging situations, and has brought this capacity to serving as a commentator for The Washington Post, The New York Times, National Public Radio, “Democracy Now!” and “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer,” among other media outlets. Her publications include “Conservation through different lenses: Reflection, responsibility and the politics of participation in conservation advocacy,” in the journal Environmental Management, “The Amungme, Kamoro and Freeport: How indigenous Papuans have resisted the world's largest gold and copper mine,” in F. J. Lechner & J. Boli (Eds.) The Globalization Reader, “Let freedom ring: Recharging and consolidating ‘Inside the Beltway’ activism,” in M.A. Tetreault & R. Teske (Eds.) Partial truths and the politics of community: Feminist approaches to social movements, community, and power, and “The victims of Indonesia’s pursuit of progress,” an invited The New York Times opinion piece. Abigail holds a PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, a M.Sc. in Political Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center.