Natalie Bridgeman Fields has joined Earthjustice as managing attorney of the organization’s International Program, based in San Francisco. She leads a global team of attorneys, scientists, and other practitioners working to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and advance clean energy, defend biodiversity, and protect human health across six continents.

“I am honored to join this talented team of tireless advocates working to advance justice in local communities and environmental and human rights on the international stage. Climate change, industrial pollution, and biodiversity loss do not stop at borders, and neither do we,” said Natalie Bridgeman Fields, Earthjustice Managing Attorney.

As managing attorney, Ms. Bridgeman Fields will oversee the International Program’s advocacy on a wide range of critical environmental and justice issues around the world. The program was founded in 1991 and partners with organizations and communities to establish, strengthen, and enforce national and international legal protections for the environment and human health.

“We’re thrilled to have Natalie leading our international team,” said Drew Caputo, Vice President of Litigation for Lands, Wildlife, and Oceans. “Her rich experience working with communities to protect the environment internationally is a powerful addition to an already impressive team.”

Ms. Bridgeman Fields founded Accountability Counsel, where she was the Executive Director for 14 years. She led the organization of lawyers, advocates, and researchers working to amplify the voices of people to defend their environmental and human rights when harmed by international finance and development institutions’ projects. During her tenure, she and her team successfully supported dozens of communities from Peru to Mongolia, and Haiti to India, to vindicate their rights, while building the field of international accountability mechanisms. Her legal career also included solo law practice co-counseling on human rights and environmental cases in U.S. courts and corporate litigation at a large private firm. Among notable cases, Ms. Bridgeman Fields represented Indigenous Achuar community members and Amazon Watch in the Carijano v. Occidental Petroleum case, a successful suit against the oil company for toxic torts. She has served as consultant for development banks regarding creation, development, and redesign of accountability systems.

Ms. Bridgeman Fields is an Echoing Green Fellow, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur, and has been a Stanford University Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law Fellow. She is a graduate of Cornell University, where she was a Udall Scholar and received the Michael Schwerner National Activist Award. Natalie received her law degree from UCLA School of Law, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs.