Samantha Happ (she/her) is the Local2030 Islands Network’s Managing Director, overseeing the Network’s strategy, engagements, and work streams. Samantha is a sustainable development practitioner with lived and working experience across the Pacific and Southeast Asia, specializing in local and community-based strategy, policy, and programming in furtherance of the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Local2030, Samantha worked on Strategic Foresight with UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific on projects related to systems transformation, inclusive futures, anticipatory risk governance, and design thinking. Prior, she worked at UNDP Headquarters in New York on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) policy, later joining the Inclusive Growth portfolio focused on poverty and inequality reduction. Samantha holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and bachelor’s degrees in Political Science, Intercultural Studies, and Advocacy and Social Change.

Contact: samantha@hawaiigreengrowth.org