Sashi Sabaratnam

Sashi joined PG&E in 2024 in a newly created role aiming to connect the utility’s wildfire & climate resiliency work to that of local governments and communities. Previously, she worked as University of California Cooperative Extension Wildfire Vegetation Mitigation Program Manager for Sonoma County. Sashi served 7 years on the Mill City Council, elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. She served as mayor in 2020, an unprecedented year that included the COVID lockdown, civil unrest, budget constraints, and the hiring of a new city manager. Sashi was a founding board member of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority and a board member of MCE Clean Energy. She served as chairman of the Marin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) and president of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers.

Prior to her council service, Sashi served as chair of the Mill Valley CERT Steering Committee and Vice Chair of the City’s Emergency Preparedness Commission. She has written articles on wildfire prevention for Reason, City Journal, and Western Cities. Sashi is completing her master’s at the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense & Security. Her thesis research is focused on use of visualization to catalyze community consensus around wildfire vegetation management.

Sashi is also a Visiting Scholar residence with UC Berkeley’s Disaster Lab, with a research focus on increasing community resilience through a combination of human factors & technology, including evacuation, alert & warning systems, and community messaging.