Speakers
Director, Carbon Markets
3Degrees
Steph brings over 7 years of experience in environmental commodities trading and portfolio management to the 3Degrees Carbon Markets team. She currently oversees all of the company’s commercial carbon activity and primarily focuses on managing the carbon credit portfolio, originating new carbon projects, and supporting clients through the Business Partnerships team. Steph first joined 3Degrees in 2015 as a REC originator and market analyst on the Environmental Markets team. Before joining 3Degrees, she completed a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Executive Director
Forever Our Rivers Foundation
Ann Johnston is the director of Forever Our Rivers. She previously served as director of the Crested Butte Land Trust (CO). During her tenure, the organization tripled its operating capacity, achieved national accreditation, and completed award-winning river restoration projects. Ann also created a conservation program for the Russian River watershed while at Sonoma Land Trust (CA) that incorporated climate adaptation and the voices of underserved communities. Ann serves on the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. Prior, she was appointed by Colorado’s governor to the C.E. Oversight Commission. She holds an M.A. in natural resources.
Treasurer
Rensselaer Land Trust
Kristina became a Board member of the Rensselaer Land Trust (RLT) when she retired from a 25-year career as a regional planner in San Francisco and the Capital Region, including service as a Planning Board member. She is a past-president and current Treasurer for RLT. She has a B.S. from Cornell University and Master’s of City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley.
Panelists
Director, Cities4Forests and Natural Infrastructure Initiative
World Resources Institute
Kristina became a Board member of the Rensselaer Land Trust (RLT) when she retired from a 25-year career as a regional planner in San Francisco and the Capital Region, including service as a Planning Board member. She is a past-president and current Treasurer for RLT. She has a B.S. from Cornell University and Master’s of City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley.
Land Conservation Program Manager
The Nature Conservancy
Galen leads land conservation transactions across Colorado and the Southern High Plains, with an emphasis on conserving large, working ranches. As director of the Southern High Plains Initiative, his strategic focus encompasses conservation planning, partnerships, and finance more broadly across a 70-million-acre geography comprised of some of the world’s most intact and biologically diverse grassland ecosystems. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy in 2016, he served as an environmental consultant with TRC. He holds an MBA in Sustainability from Marlboro College and a B.S. in Science, Technology & Society from Stanford University.
Forest Conservation Director
Columbia Land Trust
Cherie Kearney has been a conservation leader with Columbia Land Trust for 25 years helping grow it from a small, local non-profit to become a regional land trust serving 250 miles of the lower Columbia River in Oregon and Washington. Driven by her passion for natural resources and for the diverse communities who rely on them, Cherie looks for conservation solutions that address both. She served in the Peace Corps in central Africa, is a graduate of the Washington Ag/Forestry Leadership Program and holds a master’s degree in public administration and a B.A. in psychology and religion from Linfield College.
Treasurer
ClimateRaise
Maki is a co-founder of ClimateRaise, connecting women-led companies with investors and other ecosystem partners. She was most recently the Program Manager for the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator in Partnership with The Nature Conservancy and a Sector Manager at the CREO Syndicate covering natural capital and circular economy investing for a network of family offices. She originally worked in wildlife conservation managing international sustainable development programs with the National Audubon Society. Maki completed a graduate program focused on sustainable food systems at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Program Officer
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Dan Winterson manages the Bay Area Conservation Portfolio at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. During his career, Dan has focused on conservation finance, in which capacity he has led the Foundation’s conservation program-related investment efforts. Dan previously served as the program director managing the Foundation’s commitment to Conservation International and work related to conservation trust funds. Prior to joining the Foundation, he worked at McKinsey & Company and as vice president at Teach For America. Dan received his A.B. from Harvard University and his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
Co-Hosts
Manager of Conservation Finance Programs
Highstead
Tara Whalen is the Manager of Conservation Finance Programs at Highstead, where she works to advance the pace and scale of land conservation in New England through collaboration, research, and innovative funding and financing strategies. Tara joined Highstead in 2019 and is an active member of the Conservation Finance Network and Sebago Clean Waters. Before joining Highstead, Tara worked as an Environmental Educator where she engaged students in the natural sciences and conservation across the rural-urban gradient. Tara holds an M.S. from The New School and a B.A. from Stony Brook University.
Executive Director
The Conservation Finance Network
As Executive Director, Leigh leads the Conservation Finance Network’s (CFN) effort to enable collective impact for the field of conservation finance. Through technical assistance, coaching, and convening programs, CFN helps to increase the amount of capital deployed for social equity and ecological resilience. Prior to CFN, she managed professional training programs and applied conservation initiatives for the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. Leigh holds an M.E.Sc. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley.
