CALRC2025: Keynote Presentation, Jennifer Gray Thompson

Story by CCLRtv (Center for Creative Land Recycling).

Jennifer Gray Thompson, MPA, is the founder and CEO of After the Fire USA (501c3), the nation’s leading nonprofit focused on long-term recovery and resilience in wildfire-affected communities. A resident of Sonoma Valley, she entered this work after the 2017 North Bay Fires devastated her community and has worked full-time in the megafire space ever since. Her organization is survivor-led and centers on equitable, community-driven recovery. Gray Thompson launched After the Fire USA in 2020, building on her leadership at Rebuild NorthBay Foundation. She created the Community to Community Program, where she leads delegations of fire survivors and subject matter experts into newly fire-impacted areas—bringing hard-earned experience, strategy, and peer support to places like Paradise, Maui, and Los Angeles. Under her leadership, After the Fire USA bridges the gap between frontline communities and national policy—turning hard lessons into powerful tools for change.