Lindi von Mutius JD'08
2024 VLGSAA Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient
Lindi von Mutius is the inaugural director of the Salata Institute Climate Action Accelerator. Lindi most recently served as director of the Sustainability and Global Development Practice graduate programs at the Harvard University Division of Continuing Education (DCE). During her time at DCE, she expanded the curriculum, nearly doubling course offerings in environmental justice, policy, economics, climate mitigation and adaptation, and core graduate research skills. She also worked with the Standing Committee on Climate Education to envision the future of climate education across Harvard’s schools and prioritize ways to improve climate education at the university in the short run.
She has held senior leadership roles at the Trust for Public Land (TPL), the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Prior to her work in the nonprofit sector, Lindi practiced environmental, corporate, and bankruptcy law, and she worked with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action on expanding renewable energy tax credits for corporations.
Her professional passions are environmental justice, toxics litigation, and increasing equitable access to the outdoors. Lindi has spent most of her career broadening environmentalism’s tent to include voices from the grassroots, grasstops, academics, practitioners, and both sides of the political spectrum in service of climate action. She serves on the boards of The Summit Foundation, Defend our Health, and the Trust for Public Land. In the 2024–2025 academic year, Lindi will teach two courses in environmental law and policy and climate justice as the Class of 1946 Visiting Professor in Environmental Studies at Williams College.
After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy, Lindi attended Williams College, earned her ALM in environmental management from the Harvard Extension School, and graduated from Vermont Law School with a JD. In her free time, Lindi enjoys kayaking, winter sports, hiking, and her book club.