Bill is the former chair of the advisory board of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and a member of the executive committee of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness. Additionally, he serves on the Energy Security Leadership Council of SAFE (Securing America’s Future Energy).

Pamela Tate served for 28 years as President and CEO of The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), a national, non-profit educational organization committed to expanding lifelong opportunities for adults and advancing experiential learning and its assessment. Since 2018-2019, Tate has devoted her life to addressing the climate crisis. As a Certified Climate Reality Leader and Chair of the Campaigns Committee of the Chicago Metro Chapter of Climate Reality, Tate works on regenerative agriculture practices, tree conservation and preservation, electrification of public transit and private vehicles, and federal and state policy to de-celerate global warming.

Holly is Microsoft’s Sr. Program Manager of Datacenter Community Environmental Sustainability, directing Microsoft’s approach to environmental sustainability in Microsoft’s worldwide datacenter communities. She also co-founded and leads Microsoft’s Worldwide Sustainability Community for employee engagement. She is an avid plant-powered outdoor adventure enthusiast and loves many adventure sports.

Elisa is a philosophy professor, author and nonprofit professional with a specialization in applied ethics. She is a trustee for the Rapaport Family Charitable Trust and a volunteer leader with organizations as diverse as the American Red Cross, the Anne Frank Center USA and the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association.

Mary Wagner most recently served as associate chief of the U.S. Forest Service where she stewarded 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands and led a workforce of 28,000 employees. Mary was raised in southern California, where her love for the outdoors grew in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains.

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.

David Bennell is a leading Sustainability professional with over 25 years of experience with corporations and investors, as well as with many of the world’s top NGOs and philanthropic foundations. His corporate career was spent at Microsoft, REI and LL Bean and he’s consulted to many other leading global corporations on sustainability strategy. He’s currently an advisor to the $28 billion Transformational Investing in Food Systems Initiative and helped create the Food and Forests Program at the investor network Ceres. David is an investor in climate technology and nature-based tech companies, as well an advisor to high net-worth individuals engaged in impact investing.

Zim Boulos is the owner of Office Environments and Services (OES), a provider of business furniture since 1981. OES has 27 employees, based in Jacksonville, Florida. Zim is also a past chairman of the City of Jacksonville Economic Development Council.

Ara is the corporate sustainability director at Weyerhaeuser, one of the world’s largest private owners of timberlands and one of the largest manufacturers of wood products in North America. The company is proud to manage one of the most sustainable, versatile resources on earth – forests – while making products that people need.

Taldi Harrison is REI’s director of community & government affairs. In this capacity she oversees REI’s government affairs work and policy related philanthropy. Her work focuses on fostering collaborative partnerships with a number of national non-profits and decision makers at the federal, state, and local level to ensure equitable access to and infrastructure for inspiring outdoor recreation opportunities. Taldi serves on the Board of Directors of EasTrail Partners, The Conservation Alliance and the Recreate Responsibly Steering Committee. Raised in the Flathead Valley in Montana, Taldi is an avid outdoors woman who enjoys hiking, mountain biking, climbing, mountaineering, skiing and camping with her two young daughters.

Bill serves as the Head of the US Casualty, Environmental  and Industry Practices at Everest Insurance, a world class global  property, casualty and specialty lines insurance company.  

David is Senior Advisor for Government and External Relations at the Electric Power Research Institute. He is an earth scientist by training and life-long environmentalist with 30 years’ experience in energy and environmental policy.

Richard is an investor and retired developer of shopping centers and other commercial properties. In earlier years, as general counsel to a public company retailer, he was a principal in the creation of innovative retail chains.