Allison Agsten is the inaugural director of USC Annenberg’s Center for Climate Journalism and Communication. In her role, she conceptualizes programs, develops partnerships, and collaborates with faculty and students to shift public perception and response to climate change.
Previously, she has worked in journalism, communications, and public engagement capacities including as a producer at CNN, Director of Communications at LACMA, and Curator of Public Engagement at the Hammer Museum.
In addition to her appointment at the Annenberg School, Agsten serves as the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies’ first curator. In that position, she organizes exhibitions and other arts programs that focus on climate change.
Allison holds a BA from UCLA and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.
About VSC Ventures:
For 20 years, our award-winning PR agency VSC has worked with innovative startups on positioning, messaging, and awareness and we are bringing that same expertise to help climate startups with storytelling and narrative building. Last year, general partners Vijay Chattha and Jay Kapoor raised a $21M fund to co-invest in the most promising startups alongside leading climate funds.
Through the conversations on our show CLIMB by VSC, we're excited to share what we're doing at VSC and VSC Ventures on climate innovation with companies like Ample, Actual, Sesame Solar, Synop, Vibrant Planet, and Zume among many others.