Laurel is Environment Program Director at The Waltons Trust, a limited-life Canadian grantmaking foundation. In this capacity, she helps to direct and inform the Trust’s grantmaking in the areas of land conservation and sustainable farming and forestry.

Previously, Laurel was Northern Program Director at Weston Family Foundation, providing strategic grants management to the Foundation’s northern-focused grants. Before working in philanthropy, Laurel managed programs for community-based non-profits and worked in government. Her first career was as an outdoor educator and canoe guide, where she was fortunate to have experienced many remote and unique Canadian rivers and landscapes. Laurel holds a BAH from the University of Guelph in International Development (minor in Biology) and a Masters of Environmental Studies degree from York University.

Laurel loves nordic skiing and trail running in the forests in and around her hometown of Peterborough, Ontario.

As Director of Strategic Conservation at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), Dawn is accelerating conservation impact by integrating and expanding private land conservation partnerships and expertise into Canadian and international biodiversity and climate dialogues. Before joining NCC, Dawn was the Executive Director for the Canadian Parks Council (CPC), advising senior government executives in Canada’s national, provincial, and territorial parks and protected area communities. With over 20 years of experience, Dawn’s passion extends into volunteer roles with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Dawn holds graduate degrees from Queen’s University and the University of Waterloo, focused on environmental policy and community development. Most recently, Dawn was recognized by the CPC with an Individual Award of Excellence for her exemplary contribution to Canada’s parks community during her Executive Director tenure from 2012-2021.

Ela Chapin is a Vermont State Representative and independent consultant, based in Central Vermont. Her professional background includes a decade working in outdoor education and leadership development, and 15 years supporting entrepreneurs and expanding local and regional food systems as Director of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board’s Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program from 2006-2021. Ela is founder of the National Farm Viability Conference, and co-founder of the Agricultural Viability Alliance. She holds a master’s degree in policy and planning from Tufts University, a bachelor’s in environmental science from Brown University, and a certificate in Nonprofit Management from Marlboro College. In the Statehouse, Ela serves on the House Committee on Environment, and co-chairs Vermont’s Legislative Women’s Caucus. She is a current member of the Northern Forest Center’s review committee for workforce housing projects, and has served on a variety of other boards, including Community Capital of Vermont, the Agricultural Viability Alliance, the Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Initiative, Vermont Farm to Plate, and the Vermont Compost Association. She is an avid dancer, gardener and hiker, and enjoys spending time with her husband and two children in the mountains and lakes of Vermont.

Deb Davidson is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. She directs partnerships and network development, fundraising, program management, and strategic planning for the Center and its domestic and global conservation programs. In addition to overseeing program and organizational development, Deb ensures the implementation of regranting and program delivery for the Center’s fiscally sponsored projects (Network for Landscape Conservation and US Biosphere Networks). She also provides leadership on human resources, program administration, board development, communications, and organizational governance.

Deb has worked in conservation philanthropy, landscape conservation, and habitat protection programs for over 20 years. She has largely focused on working with a wide diversity of partners and communities to protect wildlife corridors and large landscapes, specifically focusing on network development, connectivity policy, and science in North America. Before joining the Center, Deb was a grantmaker for the Wilburforce Foundation and a program staffer for American Wildlands, the Ecology Center, and Montana Outdoor Science School. She has served on numerous boards, including as the Bozeman Community Food Co-op president and as an advisor to the Gallatin Valley Land Trust. 

Nathan joined the Mighty Arrow Family Foundation after serving the State of Colorado as the Director of the Outdoor Recreation Industry Division within the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade. In this role, Nathan oversaw the cultivation of Colorado’s $62.5 Billion Outdoor Recreation Economy and partnered directly with the Governor’s office to create policies that promote business recovery and growth, the conservation and stewardship of Colorado’s public lands and waters, advance the state’s education and workforce development programs, and improve public health and wellness through outdoor participation.

Prior to working at the State, Nathan was active in the non-profit conservation community and has spent over 20 years working with federal and state agencies, national and statewide non-profits, and local community groups across the Southern Rockies and intermountain west.

Andy has worked in conservation across New England for over 25 years in roles across Maine and Connecticut state government in regional planning, marine resource policy, forestry, fisheries, wildlife management and environmental protection.  He served as Executive Director of the Connecticut River Conservancy for 11 years, tripling the size of the organization in size and impact.   He is energized by working with local communities to find environmental problems and fix them so that everyone can be sustained by the benefits of nature.  He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences as well as a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University.

Bio coming soon

Brian is the Chair Emeritus of the US Biosphere Network, representing 28 internationally recognized Biosphere Regions with the goal of conserving biological diversity while also supporting sustainable human communities in harmony with nature. Brian lives in Brunswick, Maine.

Brian has extensive conservation experience throughout the Western Hemisphere where a variety of organizations supported his work, including: US Peace Corps, US Agency for International Development, World Bank and World Wildlife Fund. Brian was a Vice President for the Nature Conservancy’s International Program for 15 years, where one of his major achievements was to design and direct the “Parks in Peril Program,” which protected over 60 million acres of critically threatened parks and reserves throughout Latin America.

Houseal holds a BA degree from Colgate University and graduate degrees in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from Syracuse University and the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York.

Deb launched her facilitation, consulting, and coaching practice in 2012 to support innovative organizations and collaborative partnerships that are working together to solve complex problems and have a positive impact on the world. She provides a range of services in support of her clients: internal organizational development and capacity building, leadership coaching, customized training, facilitation of internal and collaborative multi-stakeholder processes, conflict management support, and program management. In addition to her consulting work, she directs the Collaboration Program in Natural Resources, a professional leadership program based out of the University of Wyoming. Deb has over 25 years of experience working in and with nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, public agencies, and private businesses. Her work has taken her through a wide range of issues, fields of study, and areas of interest, including: public health, natural resources and the environment, green building and sustainable development, and leadership development. She has a BA in environmental history from Carleton College, a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan, graduate coursework in environmental policy and natural resources from the UM, and is an accredited professional coach through the International Coach Federation. Deb also currently serves on the Board of Directors and as a leadership coach with the Regional Institute for Health and Environmental Leaders. She lives in Laramie, Wyoming with her husband and our two dogs and works locally, regionally, and nationally from her home base near the Snowy Range Mountains.

Robin Lawson is the Business Development Manager at the Centre for Land Conservation. Based in in Tiohti:áke (Montreal), Canada. A graduate of Acadia University, she is a passionate conservation professional and proponent for intergenerational and cross sectoral collaboration.  Robin spent her early career working in various capacities with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. She volunteers as the President of the Canadian Committee for IUCN and as Vice-Chair at the Lawson Foundation.

John recently retired as President and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). In more than two decades of leadership John oversaw remarkable growth in NCC’s programs, conservation projects, funding and impact, leading to the conservation of more than 14 million hectares.

Previously, John was Executive Director of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (now Ontario Nature) and worked for several years in senior positions with the Government of Ontario. John is passionate about Canada – “what better country is there to live a life, work hard, love the land, and enjoy the great outdoors?”

John is an advocate for growing the community-based private land conservation movement and creating solutions that will change our trajectory to a nature positive future for generations to come.

Katie is the Director of Partnerships at the Conservation Finance Network, where she supports conservation finance training and information sharing within CFN’s network. She has worked at the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board and a Vermont-based foundation, and for land trusts in Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and Montana. Katie has a Masters of Environmental Science and an MBA from Yale University, and a B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from Middlebury College.

Chris is the Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – Nova Scotia Chapter. He has 25 years experience running conservation campaigns leading to the establishment of new protected areas, including national parks, provincial parks, wilderness areas, and nature reserves. Chris has a Ph.D. in conservation biology and is the founder of Atlantic Canada’s only Conservation Freediving Team. He prioritizes local partnerships and spending time on the land and water for conservation campaigns.

Chandni is associate director of Sustainably Managed Land and Water Resources at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, where she leads programs to advance and accelerate the enduring protection of land and water resources worldwide. Chief among these is the International Land Conservation Network, which connects private and civic land conservation organizations and practitioners around the globe working to protect places important to their communities and regions. In addition to the ILCN, Chandni manages the Institute’s programs and projects on large landscape conservation and conservation innovation. Prior to joining the Lincoln Institute, Chandni worked for organizations in North America, Latin America, and South Asia supporting urban, peri-urban, and rural communities involved in voluntary land and resource conservation, and earlier in her career worked in change management for private and public sector organizations as a consultant with Accenture. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

As core staff of First Light, Eliza (Ellie) works with a broad network of non-native conservation organizations to build community relearning and land return in Wabanaki homelands. Eliza was born in Maryland and was first introduced to Wabanaki homelands as a student at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. After college, Eliza followed her interest in understanding how coastal communities adapt to social & ecological change through a Fulbright fellowship in Aotearoa New Zealand and graduate research at University of California, Davis, before returning to live and work in Wabanaki homelands. Eliza’s professional work and personal leanings are based on the belief that community relearning is intrinsic to building more livable futures, and that together we can expand our collective sense of what’s possible in colonized/decolonizing places.

Jon has been with the Network for Landscape Conservation since 2016 and has filled various roles, including managing the Catalyst Fund through its five (and counting) years of grantmaking and peer learning. He brings nearly 20 years of experience in working to advance collaborative landscape conservation and stewardship. Before joining the Network, he coordinated the South Mountain Partnership, a regional landscape conservation initiative in south-central Pennsylvania. He spent three years on the staff of the Boston-based Kendall Foundation. He is also a senior fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. A graduate of Middlebury College and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Jon lives in western Massachusetts with his wife and their two little ones. Too much of his work is done in front of a computer, and he embraces any opportunity to get away from a screen—especially if the escape is on two wheels or skis when the snow is good.

Hallie is Conservation Planning Manager at Open Space Institute (OSI) where she works to help land conservation organizations, public agencies, and other partners apply climate and watershed science to guide strategies for land protection and stewardship. Hallie administers OSI’s Catalyst Program, which has provided grants and technical assistance to support the development of 100 climate-informed plans. Hallie’s recent work has included a focus on supporting communities in harnessing natural climate solutions to bolster resilience to flooding and other climate impacts. In a previous role at the Highstead Foundation, Hallie worked on initiatives to strengthen the capacity of landscape-scale conservation collaboratives and served as a co-coordinator of the Hudson to Housatonic Regional Conservation Partnership. She has also worked at regional land trusts in New York and Massachusetts. Hallie holds a masters in Natural Resources from the University in Vermont, and a B.A. in Environmental Studies and French from Amherst College.

Shelby serves as Vice President for New England with Trust for Public Land. She leads TPL’s teams and mission delivery across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont – a region of vast wilderness and densely populated cities all within a day’s drive. She’s an optimist who sees and believes that urban parks and land conservation play a critical role in building a livable future – not only as green infrastructure, but as vehicles for communities to be agents of change. During her tenure at The Trust for Public Land, she has managed conservation projects in California totaling over 18,000 acres, built the first integrated regional strategy to leverage parks, schoolyards, community forests and iconic public lands to conserve over 50,000 acres and bring a park within a 10-minute walk of 30,000 New Englanders by 2025.  She lives in Vermont with her husband and two sons. True to her optimism, she actually loves New England winters.

Peter joined Lyme in 1990 and has significant experience in conservation-oriented forestland and rural land purchases and dispositions. Peter develops conservation sale strategies on properties being evaluated or managed by Lyme and also leads Lyme’s conservation advisory business. Prior to his career with LTC Partners and Lyme, Peter was Senior Vice President of the Trust for Public Land where he directed conservation real estate acquisitions in the Northeast and Midwest. Peter lectures frequently at graduate schools and professional conferences on conservation investment structures and strategies. Peter is the co-founder of the Conservation Finance Network and the International Land Conservation Network. In addition, he is a former Board Chair of the Land Trust Alliance, served as a founding Commissioner of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Peter earned a B.A. with Highest Honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1975 and was a Loeb Fellow and received a Certificate in Advanced Environmental Studies from Harvard University in 1981.

Kristen is the Northeast Regional Director for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). Prior to joining NPCA she was the Southern New England Director of Conservation Projects and Partnerships for the Appalachian Mountain Club where she worked for 18+ years to advance land conservation, trails, and recreational access throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. She serves on the Board of Trustees for the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. She has a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana.

Sam has twenty-five years of experience in conservation and philanthropy, focused primarily on land and water issues in western North America. He has worked to find solutions to long-standing challenges in landscapes ranging from the Arctic coastal plain of Alaska to the desert rivers of the U.S. Southwest. He recently served as senior advisor for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, with a focus on its Colorado Plateau strategy. In recent years, Sam was an independent consultant, serving environmental foundations and nonprofits. His clients included the Hewlett Foundation, the Moore Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy. Previously, he managed the Alaska and British Columbia environmental grantmaking portfolio for the Wilburforce Foundation in Seattle. Other professional endeavors included raising butterflies in Costa Rica and serving as program associate at the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity (now the Biodiversity Funders Group).

Jessa Rae Growing Thunder comes from the Fort Peck Assiniboine (Nakoda)/Sioux (Dakota) tribes. She is a third-generation beadwork and quillwork artist, educator, and historian. Jessa Rae is the Director of Tribal Nation Initiatives at Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP). She has a background in community-based methodologies, networking, facilitation, advocacy, and project development and management. Her current portfolio consists of working with Tribal communities on efforts of climate, conservation, and Tribal philanthropy.

Before joining NAP, she was the Indigenous Exchange Advisor at the Inter-American Foundation, where she led the development of a congressionally mandated initiative that fostered sustainable relationships between Native American communities and Indigenous communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Jessa Rae holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis.

Jim Levitt is a co-founder and the director of the ILCN, based at the Lincoln Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. In addition, he holds ongoing fellowships at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University and at Highstead, a non-profit advancing land conservation in New England.

Levitt focuses on landmark innovations in the field of land and biodiversity conservation, both present-day and historic, that are characterized by five traits: novelty and creativity in conception, strategic significance, measurable effectiveness, international transferability, and the ability to endure. Levitt has written and edited dozens of articles and four books on land and biodiversity conservation. Among his current efforts, Levitt is advising colleagues in Chile on the expansion of private land conservation initiatives and enabling legal frameworks in that nation. He is also engaged in an effort to link land conservation innovators at universities, colleges and independent research institutions around the globe. Levitt is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Management (Yale SOM).