Sustainable food and water policy leader Paula Daniels was seated Tuesday as the City of Los Angeles’ newest representative on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Daniels has spent more than two decades working to advance public policy on food systems and sustainability in the government, academic and non-profit sectors. She is currently the inaugural executive director of the Los Angeles County Office of Food Systems, a partnership between the County of Los Angeles and local philanthropic organizations to build a fair, resilient and healthy food system for residents. Daniels is also co-founder of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, which aims to guide how public institutions purchase food to support sustainability, equity and transparency. She serves on the University of California President’s Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“Water security and food security go hand in hand,” Metropolitan board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. said. “I look forward to working with Director Daniels on these critical issues and to ensure a reliable, sustainable water supply for Southern California.”

Daniels was assigned to the board’s Finance, Affordability, Asset Management, and Efficiency Committee, the Ethics Committee, and the Special Committee on Ag and Tribal Partnerships.

A lawyer, Daniels has served on the California Water Commission, the California Bay-Delta Authority and the California Coastal Commission. She has also held faculty positions at University of California Los Angeles, University of California Berkeley and Vermont Law School, and has served on various nonprofit and foundation boards. Daniels is an Ashoka Fellow, a Stanton Fellow of the Durfee Foundation and a 2016 recipient of the Bellagio Center Residency of the Rockefeller Foundation.

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