Deborah Halberstadt
Deborah Halberstadt is the Special Advisor on Biodiversity and Inclusive insurance at the California Department of Insurance. In this role, she advises the Commissioner on the development and implementation of strategic initiatives associated with protecting and restoring biodiversity and promoting social and environmental justice in the context of insurance regulation. Deborah guides innovation in insurance in order to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making, while at the same time redressing social inequities.
Deborah is a visionary and persuasive leader and an accomplished attorney. She has worked at the forefront of climate law and policy in California in her roles as Senior Climate Policy Advisor with the Department of Insurance, Deputy Secretary for Coastal and Ocean Policy with the California Natural Resources Agency, Executive Director of the California Ocean Protection Council, Deputy Attorney General with the Environment and Land Law sections of the California Department of Justice, and Federal Legislative Liaison in the Office of the Governor. She clerked for the Alaska Supreme Court and was cross-designated as a Special Assistant United States Attorney.
Deborah loves exploring the wonders of nature with her family – the wilder, the better – and concluding with a decadent cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows.
Deborah received her B.A. from Stanford and her J.D. from Berkeley Law.
