2024 Conference Keynote Speakers

Wednesday, November 6, 6:30 PM EST
OPENING REMARKS
NURTURING THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Jake Pawlak

Jake Pawlak currently serves as Deputy Mayor for the City of Pittsburgh and Director for the Office of Management and Budget. Prior to joining the Administration, Pawlak served as Mayor Gainey's Transition Director. He has worked at all levels of government, including the Pennsylvania Senate and U.S. Senate. At the local level, he has held senior strategic and policy roles with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.

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Angela Coleman

Angela Coleman serves as the Associate Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. She served as Forest Service Chief of Staff from 2015 to 2021, where she oversaw the Chief ’s Office daily operations and staff, issues management, and Office of Communication and Legislative Affairs programs. She provided senior-level support to the Chief of the agency and the Executive Leadership Team to advance and deliver the agency’s natural resource conservation mission.

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Gregg Behr, JD

Gregg Behr, executive director of The Grable Foundation since 2006, is a father and children’s advocate. For more than 15 years, he has helped lead Remake Learning—a network of educators, technologists, designers, and makers he founded in 2007—to international renown. Among the foremost examples of learning ecosystems, Remake Learning has turned heads everywhere from The White House to the World Economic Forum for its efforts to ignite children's curiosity; encourage creativity; and foster justice, joy, and belonging in schools, libraries, museums, and other sites of learning.

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Ryan Rydzewski

Ryan Rydzewski is an award-winning author and speaker. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he taught elementary school in south Louisiana before earning an MFA in nonfiction writing from Chatham University. As a science and education reporter, his magazine stories focus on everything from schools to space travel to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and he regularly leads workshops for educators and parents. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Ryan lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Jacqueline, and their son, Russell.

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Dr. Vik Mohan

Dr. Vik Mohan is a practicing doctor, former Director of Community Health at Blue Ventures Conservation, life coach, and well-being practitioner. Working with fishing communities in southwest Madagascar he saw how poor health was impacting the community's ability to engage in marine conservation. At the request of partner communities, he led development of Blue Ventures' community health program and integrated it into their fisheries and marine conservation programming.

Watch Dr. Vik Mohan's moving keynote on YouTube >

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Dr. Grethel Aguilar

Dr. Grethel Aguilar, born in Costa Rica, assumed office as Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in October 2023. Dr Aguilar brings with her thirty years of experience in conservation and sustainable development, having worked extensively on developing and applying environmental law and policy in collaboration with governments and civil society.

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Sean Southey

Sean Southey has more than 30 years of experience in international development and communications. He is the CEO of the Canadian Wildlife Federation, one of the largest environmental organizations working to conserve and inspire the conservation of Canada's wildlife and habitats for the use and enjoyment of all. Sean started his career with five years in the Canadian Ministry of Environment, followed by 12 years with the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) environment team. He has won more than 100 awards for his work and has reached billions of people with life and planet-saving information.

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Anna Rathmann

Anna Rathmann is the Executive Director of the Jane Goodall Institute USA. Her experience working with organizations in the international conservation community led her to her current role with JGI as a natural next step in a career focused on bridging science, conservation, education, and storytelling.

Richard Tusabe is an environmental enthusiast advocating for an empowered, youthful generation for a greener planet. He endeavors to establish all-inclusive, engaging, and passion-fueled platforms for environmental learning to amplify the green actions of children and youth as caretakers of Mother Nature.

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Additional keynotes to be announced.