Utility Rates and Policy Specialist
Edgar Reyna (he/él) is a climate adaptation practitioner who comes to OPA with over a decade of municipal and international environmental policy and research experience. He integrates transformative climate adaptation principles into his work to address the local impacts of climate change.
Prior to joining OPA, Edgar served in the LA Mayor’s Office of Energy and Sustainability. In this role, he developed the Mayor’s Climate Plan while coordinating with 14 key departments that drive climate action across the city of Los Angeles. By working with these departments to refine climate targets, he helped align the City’s operations with its long-term climate goals. Before working in the Mayor’s Office, Edgar worked as a researcher in Fresno County and Nayarit, Mexico, alongside physicians, wildlife ecologists, and public health experts. He leveraged climate modeling, public health data and census information to develop a climate vulnerability needs assessment for Fresno County. In Nayarit, he supported the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and UNDP on a coastal resilience plan to conserve the Marismas Nacionales mangrove forest and increase community resilience in the region. He also worked at WWF-Mexico for 4 years and was responsible for furthering the organization’s regional contributions to achieving the SDGs and Aichi biodiversity targets by coordinating 11 WWF offices across Latin America.
Edgar received a B.S. in Community and Regional Development from UC Davis, and Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, where he focused on climate change adaptation planning and analysis. He listens to cumbia, volunteers for a local land trust, plays soccer, and bakes cookies during his downtime.