Our Team / Irene Takako Farr
Irene supports projects related to environmental justice, racial justice, communications, and public policy.
Irene brings expertise in environmental policy research and implementation related to the topics of land use, wildfire, waste, oceans and coasts, and labor. At Better World Group, she brings her skills in strategy and design to build our clients policies that are centered on community expertise.
Prior to joining Better World Group, Irene explored climate justice in the context of urban planning, transportation, and labor as a UCLA research assistant. Her report on land use in the Antelope Valley, titled “Opportunities for Agriculture and Solar in the Urban Fringe,“ earned her a graduate fellowship at the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies in 2020. She later co-authored the essay “Stop Trashing Our Communities” to explore informal waste management in Los Angeles, and was published by the Yale State and Local Policy Review.
As a graduate student at UCLA, Irene held internships at the LA County Department of Regional Planning, to advance the LA County Climate Action Plan, and the Office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian, to explore revenue opportunities for the City of Los Angeles. Her transition back to school was inspired by her role as an outreach specialist for the private waste hauler Athens Services, where she wrote strategies to support mandatory recycling and organics recycling diversion laws.
Irene earned her master of urban and regional planning from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. She holds a bachelor’s in environmental science from Santa Barbara City College and UCLA. In her spare time, Irene likes to watch movies, build chairs, and write poetry.