Jessica Olcott Yllemo

Director, Climate Security Programs at the American Security Project (ASP)

Jessica Olcott Yllemo is a national security professional with more than 15 years of experience at the nexus of complex global issues. Currently serving as the Director, Climate Security Programs at the American Security Project (ASP), Ms. Yllemo routinely provides subject matter expertise on climate security, military installation resilience, and international considerations of climate security. In addition to managing ASP’s climate security research portfolio, she designs, executes, and moderates ASP’s National Climate Security Tour events, as well as maintains ASP’s Climate Security in Focus blog series.

Prior to joining ASP, Ms. Yllemo provided critical support to a variety of state, federal, and international programs, specifically targeted at chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) related disaster response, emergency preparedness, and building partnership capacity programs in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. She has extensive experience facilitating U.S. interagency and international stakeholder collaboration at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels, and has designed, executed, and evaluated more than 45 domestic and international exercises and security cooperation missions. Ms. Yllemo has provided expertise to several U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) entities, including the Center for Naval Analyses and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), as well as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) offices and entities, including NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (EADRCC), and with the development of NATO’s Climate Security Center of Excellence (COE).

Ms. Yllemo is a subject matter expert in Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) best practices, and has specialized expertise in climate security, civil affairs, and defense support to civil authorities (DSCA). In addition to her work with DOD, Ms. Yllemo has also supported U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) Office of Emergency Management, various U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offices and projects, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lines of effort. She has also served as a Fulbright Clinton Public Policy Fellow at the Ministry of the Kosovo Security Forces in Pristina, Kosovo, and as a Climate Security Fellow with the Climate and Security Advisory Group (CSAG).

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