Bioneers 2025 Conference

Speakers for Bioneers 2025

Keynote Speakers for Thursday, March 27th

Janine Benyus
Co-Founder
The Biomimicry Institute
Shreya Chaudhuri – Youth Keynote
Climate Action Fellow
Student Environmental Resource Center
Katsi Cook
Executive Director
Spirit Aligned Leadership Program
Haley Mellin
Artist and Land Conservationist
Baratunde Thurston
Writer, Producer, Proud Earthling

Keynote Speakers for Friday, March 28th

Wade Crowfoot
Natural Resources Secretary
State of California
Joy Harjo
U.S. Poet Laureate
Asa Miller – Youth Keynote
Marine Science Researcher
Doria Robinson
Executive Director
Urban Tilth
César Rodríguez-Garavito
More Than Human Life (MOTH) Program
Founding Director
Women’s Earth Alliance
Amira Diamond, Kahea Pacheco, and Melinda Kramer
Co-Directors

Keynote Speakers for Saturday, March 29th

Colette Pichon Battle
Vision & Initiatives Partner
Taproot Earth
Amy Bowers Cordalis
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group
Thom Hartmann
Author and Talk Show Host
Ben Jealous
Executive Director
Sierra Club
Bill McKibben
Co-Founder
Third Act

Speakers for Afternoon Panels, Interactive Sessions, Films and More

Camilo Garzón
AskNature Program Director
Biomimicry Institute
Gina LaMotte
Managing Director
Biomimicry for Social Innovation
Gregg Castro
Culture Director
Association of Ramaytush Ohlone
Homayoon Ghanizada
Program Supervisor
Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay
Jessica Groopman
Founder
The Regenerative Technology Project
Juan Altamirano
Director of Government Affairs
The Trust for Public Land
Lily Urmann
Technical Manager
The AskNature Hive at the Biomimicry Institute
Lisa Rudman
Journalist, and Director of Audience Engagement
San Francisco Public Press
Luna Angulo
Political and Environmental Justice Activist
Nicole Phillips
Human Rights Legal Advisor and Adjunct Professor
UC College of the Law, San Francisco
Sara Kohgadai
Immigration Attorney and Project Coordinator
Project ANAR
Siku Allooloo
Artist, Writer, and Filmmaker
Will Scott
Co-Founder and Program Director
Weaving Earth Center for Relational Education
Ernie Albers
Cultural Outreach and Education Manager
Two Feathers NAFS
Rachel Allen
Producer
From Soil to Soul Documentary Series
Amikaeyla
Founder
International Cultural Arts and Healing Sciences Institute
Rising Appalachia
Internationally Touring Folk Ensemble
Alondra Aragon
Member
Hummingbird Farm Collective
Eldon Arena
Cinematographer
From Soil to Soul Documentary Series
Kenny Ausubel
CEO and Co-Founder
Bioneers
Sonali Sangeeta Balajee
Founder
Our Bodhi Project
Leena Barakat
President and CEO
Women Donors Network
José Barreiro
Author and Activist
Jason Bayani
Artistic Director
Kearny Street Workshop
Jade Begay
Impact Producer
Sugarcane
Clesi Bennett
Senior Environmental Scientist
California Natural Resources Agency
Tenika Blue
Social Justice Advocate
Arlene Blum
Executive Director
Green Science Policy Institute
Keith Bowers
Founder
Biohabitats
Andrew Boyd
Co-Founder and Chief Existential Officer
The Climate Clock
Nazshonnii Brown-Almaweri
Intercultural Conversations Program Manager, Indigeneity Program
Bioneers
Alexis Bunten
Co-Director, Indigeneity Program
Bioneers
Rhett Butler
Founder and CEO
Mongabay
Orion Camero
Action Lead Program Manager
Narrative Initiative
Anneke Campbell
Writer and Community Activist
Jeanine Canty
Professor of Transformative Studies
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)
Jada Imani Carter
Hip-Hop artist and Community Organizer
Ginger Cassady
Executive Director
Rainforest Action Network
Crystal Cavalier-Keck
Co-Founder and CEO
7 Directions of Service
DJ Cavem
Music Educator, “Eco-Hip-Hop” Pioneer and Vegan Chef
Anathea Chino
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Advance Native Political Leadership
Morning Star Gali
Director
Indigenous Justice
Ellie Cohen
CEO
The Climate Center
Aja Conrad
Pikyav Field Institute Program Manager
Karuk Department of Natural Resources
Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook
Teacher
Seven Sacred Ceremonies
Christine Cordero
Co-Director
Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Stosh Cotler
Organizer, Strategist, and Movement-Builder
Sarah Crowell
Co-Director
The Belonging Resident Company
Claire Hope Cummings
Lawyer, Journalist and Author
Dawn Danby
CEO and Co-Founder
Spherical
Ashira Darwish
Founder
Catharsis Holistic Healing
Danielle Khan Da Silva
Founder and Executive Director
Photographers Without Borders
Willow Defebaugh
Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Atmos
Eriel Tchekwie Deranger
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Indigenous Climate Action
Amira Diamond
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director
Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA)
Brock Dolman
Co-Director of the WATER Institute
Occidental Arts & Ecology Center
Mark Dowie
Investigative Journalist
Elsadig Elsheikh
Global Justice Program Director
Othering & Belonging Institute
Torri Estrada
Executive Director and Director of Policy
Carbon Cycle Institute
Debbie Fier
Vocalist, Drummer and Teacher
Paloma Flores
Founder and CEO
Paloma Flores Consulting Agency (PFCA)
Sara Eve Fuentes
Chairwoman
Women in Cleantech and Sustainability
Cymone Fuller
Senior Director, Restorative Justice
Equal Justice USA
Claudia Garcia
Director of Programs
Tech Exchange
Tashanda Giles-Jones
Co-Designer
Women’s Earth Alliance’s Black Girls/Green Futures Program
Hilary Giovale
Author and Activist
Gillian Goddard
Founder
The Chocolate Rebellion
Britt Gondolfi
Rights of Nature Project Coordinator
Bioneers
Corrina Gould
Co-Founder and Lead Organizer
Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Jasmin Graham
President and CEO
Minorities in Shark Sciences
Teo Grossman
President
Bioneers
David Gruber
Founder and President
Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative)
Lauren Gucik
Facilitator, Educator and Activist
Sol Guy
Co-Founder
Quiet
Kazu Haga
Author, Trainer, Practitioner
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin
Co-Founder
Tree-Range Farms
Toby Herzlich
Founder
Biomimicry for Social Innovation
Renee Hobbs
Researcher and Advocate for Media Literacy Education
Andrew Howley
Chief Editor
Biomimicry Institute
Nikishka Iyengar
Founder and CEO
The Guild
Juliette Jackson
Law Clerk
Native Law Group
Shilpa Jain
Researcher, Writer and Workshop Leader
Sarah James
Gwich’in Eco and Indigenous Rights Activist and Legacy Leader
Taj James
Co-Founder and Curator
Full Spectrum Labs
Lael Kylin Judson

Rural Roots Louisiana
Fadhel Kaboub
President
Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity
patience kamau
Program Director, Bioneers Learning
Bioneers
Jahan Khalighi
Program Manager
Chapter 510
Danny Kennedy
Clean Technology Entrepreneur and Activist
Asha Kohli
Executive Assistant
Bioneers
Melinda Kramer
Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director
Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA)
Sangita Kumar
Co-Director
Belonging Resident Company
Deb Lane
Drummer and Water Conservation Administrator
Daniel Lee
Director of Philanthropic Transformation
Solidaire Network
Devin Lee
Visual Artist
Isabelle Leighton
Executive Director
Donors of Color Network
Caitlin Lewis
Executive Director
Work For America
Thomas Linzey
Senior Legal Counsel
Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights
Andy Lipkis
Founder
Accelerate Resilience L.A.
Laura Loescher
Transformational Coach, Philanthropic Advisor, and Eco-Artist
Oren Lyons
Member Chief
Onondaga Council of Chiefs
Brandi Mack
Holistic Health Educator
Arty Mangan
Restorative Food Systems Director
Bioneers
Jahnavi Mange
Co-Founder
From Soil to Soul Documentary Series
Paris Marx
Host
Tech Won't Save Us podcast
Chloe Maxmin
Dirtroad Organizing
Co-Founder
Pat McCabe
Woman Stands Shining
David McConville
Co-founder and Resident Cosmographer
Spherical
Ali Meders-Knight
Executive Director
California Open Lands
Benja Mertz
Performer, Educator, Folklorist, and Song-Leader
​Lil Milagro Henriquez
Founder
Mycelium Youth Network
Eli Moore
Researcher and Facilitator
Othering and Belonging Institute
Raynell Morris
Events and Gatherings Producer
Children of the Setting Sun Productions
Martin Mulvihill
Co-Founder
Safer Made
Liz Ogbu
Designer and Grief Worker
Studio O
Kristi Onzik
Anthropologist
Kahea Pacheco
Co-Executive Director
Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA)
Elizabeth Paige
Education and Stewardship Program Manager
Native American Land Conservancy
Koohan Paik-Mander
Co-Founder
Tech Critics Network
Claudia Peña
Executive Director
For Freedoms & Center for Justice at UCLA
Manuel Pastor
Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity
University of Southern California
Daniela Perez
Regional Director for North America and the Pacific
Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA)
Grayhawk Perkins
Musician, Storyteller and Cultural Educator
Will Peterffy
Founder and CEO
One Small Planet
Rachael Petersen
Program Lead
Harvard's Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative
Sarita Pockell
Senior Program Architect
Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA)
Sarah Ranney
Director
Sierra Club San Francisco Bay Chapter
Andrew Revkin
Environmental Journalist and Webcast Host
Sustain What
Jess Rimington
Co-Leader
Collaborative for Narrative Infrastructure
Staci Roberts-Steele
Managing Director
Yellow Dot Studios
Jordan Reyes
Field Coordinator
Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance
Luke Roelofs
Assistant Professor
University of Texas at Arlington
Rhianna Rogers
Co-Founder
Sustainable Progress and Equality Collective (SPEC)
Kristen Rome
Executive Director
Louisiana Center for Children's Rights
Cara Romero
Program Director, Bioneers Indigeneity Program
Bioneers
Elizabeth Rosen
Communications Director
Future Caucus
Pamela Rosin
Founder
ReParentive Therapy
Kristin Rothballer
Social Change Facilitator
Leila Salazar-López
Executive Director
Amazon Watch
Ankur Shah
Co-Founder
From Soil to Soul Documentary Series
Nisha Arcadia Shah
Public Health and Lifestyle Medicine Professional
David Shaw
Founder
Santa Cruz Permaculture and the UCSC Right Livelihood College
Nina Simons
Co-Founder and Chief Relationship Strategist
Bioneers
Kat Sitnikova
Development Manager
Biomimicry Institute
Andrew Slack
Co-Founder
The Harry Potter Alliance
Bradley Smith
Chief Operating Officer & Philanthropic Lead
One Small Planet
Ghani Songster
Transformative Healing & Restorative Justice Manager
Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY)
Amanda Sturgeon
CEO
The Biomimicry Institute
Laura Ann Sweitzer
Director of Sustainability and Strategic Sourcing
TCHO Chocolate
Reena Szczepanski
House Majority Leader
New Mexico House of Representatives
Minkah Taharkah
Coordinator
California Farmer Justice Collaborative
Katlyn Taylor
Marine Biologist
Margaret To
Co-Founder
From Soil to Soul Documentary Series
Soledad Vogliano
Program Manager
ETC Group
Maija West
Author and Consultant
Skye Williams
Activist
Rural Roots Louisiana
Akaya Windwood
Lead Advisor
Third Act
Justin Winters
Co-Founder and Executive Director
One Earth
Jettie Word
Director
The Borneo Project