Personnel Archive - American Forests

Jad Daley

Rebecca Long — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 00:27:47 +0000

Jad Daley leads the strategic direction of American Forests and serves as its “chief engagement officer” in building diverse partnerships to advance American Forests’ mission. Tapping into his skills and experience related to program development, he also is directly involved in the organization’s programmatic work, such as forest-climate science, policy development and communications.

Daley was named president and chief executive officer in 2018, after leading the effort to center the organization’s work on climate change and social equity. He has a long history of leadership on these issues, having co-founded the Forest-Climate Working Group and the 1t.org US Chapter, and establishing the first-ever climate change program at The Trust for Public Land, where he served as a vice president and held the endowed Martha Wyckoff Fellowship.

Daley has played a leading role in authoring federal legislation to establish federal forest programs such as the Urban and Community Forestry Program, Community Wood Energy and Wood Innovation Grant Program, Northern Border Regional Commission and Highlands Conservation Grant Program.

Daley serves on the board of directors of the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, U.S. Nature4Climate and North American Forest Partnership. He is also a grant-making advisor to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Climate Adaptation Fund, The Nature Conservancy’s Restoration Accelerator and the Open Space Institute’s Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund.

Daley is a widely published writer on climate change, including peer-reviewed research and publication in outlets such as Time Magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, Medium, and diverse other outlets.

Daley has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University and a Master’s degree in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School.

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Mushtaaq Ali

Victoria Jowers — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 18:37:17 +0000

Mushtaaq Ali works with American Forests’ Resilient Forests program on conservation projects regarding large landscape reforestation as well as forest soil carbon. In addition, she will be joining the Tree Equity Score team to make access to trees more equitable across urban spaces. Before joining American Forests in 2021, Ali researched the impacts of fire in savanna ecosystems using remote sensing data. She has a degree in integrative biology from Harvard University and is part of the 2019 cohort of the UCSC Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program.

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Lida Aljabar

Victoria Jowers — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 20:12:20 +0000

Lida (Meliha) Aljabar leads the Catalyst Initiative, American Forests’ initiative to expand the Tree Equity movement across America. Prior to American Forests, Lida served as Director of Climate Resiliency Planning & Policy at NYC Housing Preservation & Development, where she led initiatives in disaster recovery, climate resilience and affordable housing in frontline communities. Previously, she managed the national Climate-Smart Cities program at The Trust for Public Land, advancing green infrastructure through partnerships and civic technology, and worked as a park planner in the Washington, DC area. Lida is an adjunct professor of community planning at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and serves on the Board of The Greenlining Institute, an Oakland-based racial justice organization. She is an AICP certified planner, LEED Accredited Professional and holds a Master of Urban & Regional Planning, and BA in Public & Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech.

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Randy Allison

Victoria Jowers — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 13:58:57 +0000

Randy Allison serves as the Senior Manager, Grants and Finance, where he is responsible for a full range of pre-award and post-award grants management activities of American Forests’ Urban Forestry grants. Prior to joining American Forests, Randy served as a finance manager and research administrator at Penn State.

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Mylen Arias

Victoria Jowers — Fri, 10 May 2024 16:48:06 +0000

Mylen Arias earned a Master’s of Science in Biology at The University ofTexas-Rio Grande Valley, where she led thornforest restoration research on refuge lands and more recently has been an AP High School Biology teacher for several years in the IDEA Public Schools system of Texas. Her leadership roles in curriculum development, learning delivery, community engagement, student achievement, and research will offer a holistic perspective to restoration efforts in the Rio Grande Valley. Her public-facing position focuses on advancing knowledge, appreciation and increased utilization of thornforests among that public through environmental literacy program development, community forest creation, workshops, and other methods.

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Kat Barton

Victoria Jowers — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 20:59:43 +0000

Kat Barton manages landscape-level forest restoration projects in the Southern Sierra, focusing on climate-smart reforestation and recovery efforts after catastrophic wildfires. With an emphasis on Shared Stewardship, Barton collaborates with a variety of land-management agencies, non-profits, and tribal governments to execute landscape-level cooperative projects in the threatened landscapes of the Southern Sierra. Before joining American Forests, Barton served as a Fuels and Forest Stewardship Crew member throughout the forests of Washington and has over 6 years of experience coordinating equity-focused environmental education programs across Oregon. Barton grew up in rural Vermont and moved to the west coast after graduating with an Environmental Studies degree from the University of Vermont.

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Adrienne Bermingham

Victoria Jowers — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 18:09:52 +0000

Adrienne helps to raise awareness about American Forests’ corporate partnerships and motivates corporations to be leaders in the movement to reforest America. Before joining American Forests in 2022, Adrienne spent 10 years with the Jane Goodall Institute’s youth program, Roots & Shoots. There, she oversaw the development and implementation of the national program strategy to empower the next generation of compassionate decision-makers. She also supported digital communications and branding for Earthworks, an advocacy organization committed to protecting communities and the environment from the harmful impacts of extractive industries. She holds a master’s degree in Anthrozoology, the study of human-animal interactions.

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Holly Bostrom

Rebecca Long — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 01:54:45 +0000

Holly Bostrom is responsible for aligning the organization, operationalizing American Forests’ core values and ensuring execution of strategic initiatives across all areas of American Forests to ensure the growth and sustainability of the organization. Bostrom brings over a decade of experience in program design and operations focused on advancing resilience and equity in conservation, transportation and civic technology in both the public and nonprofit sectors. Bostrom holds a master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont. She lives in Boston with her two daughters, husband and cat. She also serves on the Board of the Dean Foundation for Children, a small family foundation focused on improving the lives of children in Massachusetts.

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Malissa Cadwallader

Rebecca Long — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 18:26:30 +0000

Malissa Cadwallader manages American Forests’ gift processing activities, ensures database integrity and supports donor stewardship and cultivation. Cadwallader has a decade of experience in philanthropic giving and nature conservation, both domestic and international. She is a former U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer who holds a master’s degree in international affairs and nonprofit management along with a bachelor’s degree in English communications. She is delighted to utilize her talents to strengthen American Forests’ vital mission.

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Jon Dale

Victoria Jowers — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 04:42:07 +0000

Jon Dale manages American Forests’ efforts at thornforest restoration in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. He also chairs the Thornforest Conservation Partnership (TCP), a diverse group of stakeholders set on conserving the region’s thornforest ecosystem for the benefit of both diversity and community resilience in this dynamic trans-national environment. Through the TCP, Dale works alongside American Forests’ regional partners to determine methods of restoration strategy and implementation that will have the greatest lasting impact on conserving native biodiversity in this unique region. Dale has two decades of experience in conservation field research with various agencies, nonprofits and universities throughout the U.S. and Latin America, as well as past roles in program management for both the environmental consulting and specialty crop production sectors of south Texas.

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