Elizabeth Söderström leads strategy and grantmaking for the California program. Before joining the Water Foundation, Elizabeth was senior director of conservation and development at American Rivers. Prior to that she was director of the Sierra and Africa Rivers program at the Natural Heritage Institute. Elizabeth serves on the boards of the Consensus Building Institute, the Stockholm Environment Institute, and CHIRP, a nonprofit guided by the Nevada City Rancheria Tribal Council. She also sits on the advisory board of the South Yuba Citizens League. Elizabeth received a B.A. in English literature, a B.S. in biological sciences, and an M.S. in biological sciences from Stanford University, as well as a Ph.D in wildlands resource science and river science from UC Berkeley.