Contributors

Yasmeen is an organizer, strategist, and advocate for grassroots change. She became passionate about nuclear weapons in 2017 while working for Global Zero, a nonprofit focused on achieving a world without nuclear weapons. Since then, she has strived to give people the tools to make positive change for a safer, less violent world. She is currently the campaign director for the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is also on the board of directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Yasmeen has been involved with this project since its inception.

With a background in environmental studies and community organizing, Lilly has always seen nuclear issues as inherently interconnected with the environment and justice. She previously ran the anti-nuclear weapons program at Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, and co-created Nuclear Voices, a first-of-its-kind database for nuclear frontline communities. She is currently a campaign manager for the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a member of the board of directors of the Arms Control Association. Lilly has been involved with this project since its inception.

Samantha began working on the US Nuclear Impacts Map while at Women’s Action for New Directions, a nonprofit focused on the intersection of nuclear weapons, women in politics, and the federal budget. In 2018, she shared her notes on the history and current events of nuclear weapons, organized by state, with Yasmeen and Lilly. They had also been brainstorming ways to illustrate the full scope of the United States’ nuclear weapons industrial complex. Together, they began planning a map that would eventually become the current project. Although no longer directly involved in the nuclear disarmament space, Samantha continued her work as a consultant for the project until 2023, translating notes and research into copy for the website.

Ellen Leonard is passionate about making complex nuclear policy issues more accessible. From 2021 to 2024, she helped shape the US Nuclear Impacts Map by coordinating research, identifying key sites, and compiling records that document the consequences of nuclear weapons on people and communities. With experience at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Global Zero, and Beyond the Bomb, she has worked across advocacy, strategic initiatives, and impact-focused outreach that holds a spotlight on the threat of nuclear weapons and empowers people to take meaningful action toward disarmament.