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Welcome
The 2026 Sun Valley Forum is more than a convening.
In the midst of five mountain ranges, it is an invitation to immerse yourself in the beauty of nature with others dedicated to shaping a better future for our world.
Across four days at the historic Sun Valley Resort, the Forum unites storytellers, scientists, investors, Indigenous leaders, policy shapers, philanthropists, and youth advocates to explore humanity’s most urgent frontiers. Here, we reclaim the climate narrative for a fractured world, showing how nature’s intelligence supplies the solutions for people, communities and the planet.
We connect planetary systems to human health, tracking how the air, water, food, and energy systems we depend on determine who thrives and who bears the cost. The 2026 Sun Valley Forum will champion regenerative economic systems and circular business models that restore ecosystems and communities, aligning markets with what we truly value: the enduring strength and security of nature.
In a time when we are hungry for truth, connection, and progress that advances the well-being of people and the planet, we invite leaders to step into a living ecosystem of ideas where knowledge deepens, imagination becomes action, connections deliver results, and solutions are scaled.
Join us and experience what's possible for a better world.
2026 Featured Speakers
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Elizabeth Gray
CEO and Ex-Officio Board Director, National Audubon Society
Dr. Elizabeth Gray is Chief Executive Officer of the National Audubon Society, where she leads the organization’s mission to ensure a future where birds and the ecosystems they depend on thrive. She joined Audubon in 2021 as President and Chief Conservation Officer and was named CEO later that year, becoming the first woman to lead the organization since its founding in 1905. A conservation scientist and ornithologist with more than 30 years of experience, she previously served as Global Managing Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Climate Change program. Gray holds a PhD in ecology from the University of Washington and an AB with highest honors in psychology from Harvard University.
Joel R. Johnson
President and CEO, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
Joel R. Johnson is an award-winning conservation leader and strategist who most recently served as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, advancing solutions to the global biodiversity crisis, including the Half-Earth vision. He previously co-founded Admirable Devil, an award-winning marketing firm whose clients included Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, The Orvis Company, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Earlier, he was Chief Marketing Officer at Trout Unlimited and Senior Vice President of Strategy at GMMB. Joel has also led brand strategy at agencies in Chicago, New York, and London, including Spike Lee’s Spike DDB, creating campaigns for the NBA, Pepsi, and MLB.
Amber Valletta
Founder, Beaux Beauty Inc., UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, Model and Actress
Fashion industry icon, acclaimed actor, entrepreneur, and environmental activist. Valletta was among the first to champion ethical and environmentally responsible practices in the industry. She founded the platform Master & Muse to promote responsibly made fashion and co-founded A Squared Films LLC, producing projects centered on social and environmental progress. She has collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld on sustainable capsule collections, served as British Vogue’s first Contributing Sustainability Editor, and worked as a Sustainability Mentor for the CFDA. Currently, she is the Sustainability Ambassador for the Fashion Institute of Technology, helping shape the future of fashion through education and advocacy.
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Pooja Tilvawala
Founder & Executive Director, Youth Climate Collaborative
Pooja was born in India, but grew up in the United States. In 2018, she graduated from American University in Washington, DC with degrees in Economics and International Studies, specializing in justice, ethics, and human rights, and South Asia. After graduating, Pooja worked on several ocean and climate-related projects at the Meridian Institute. Now, she works for the Kennebunkport Climate Initiative as a Youth Network Strategic Consultant. As their first Climate Career winner, Pooja started Youth Climate Collaborative, which makes it easier for youth to get involved and remain involved in environmental work and fosters meaningful collaboration with youth.
David Gruber
President and Founder, Project CETI and National Geographic Explorer
David Gruber is the Founder and President of Project CETI, the Cetacean Translation Initiative, the world’s largest interdisciplinary effort focused on understanding sperm whale communication. He is a Distinguished Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences at the City University of New York and a National Geographic Explorer. His research spans marine biology, animal communication, climate science, microbiology, and technology. David collaborates with the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory to develop gentle underwater robotics and is a recipient of the Lagrange Prize in complex systems science.
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Dana Gunders
President, ReFED
Dana Gunders is a national expert on food waste, deemed “the woman who helped start the waste-free movement” by Consumer Reports. Her landmark 2012 report Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40% of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill sparked a national dialogue on the issue. She has since helped drive solutions across industry, policy, and households through research, testimony before Congress, and her book Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook. Dana has spoken widely, including at the TED Dilemma Series, and her work has been featured in major outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Time, and PBS Newshour.
Dieter Fenkart-Froeschl
President and CEO, National Forest Foundation
Dieter Fenkart-Froeschl is President and CEO of the National Forest Foundation, the official national nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service. He leads the organization’s work to support wildfire resilience, land and watershed restoration, and recreation for all across America’s 193-million acres of National Forests and Grasslands. With nearly three decades of leadership in the nonprofit and private sectors, Dieter previously held roles at the National Park Foundation, National Parks Conservation Association, American Museum of Natural History, and San Diego Museum of Art, and began his career at Bank Austria Creditanstalt. Originally from Austria, Dieter holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Brandeis University.
Benji Backer
Founder and CEO, Nature is Nonpartisan
Benji Backer is the Founder and CEO of Nature Is Nonpartisan, a movement redefining the environment as a nonpartisan issue once and for all. He is the founder of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), the country's largest conservative environmental organization, which he founded during his freshman year of college. A best-selling author of The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future, Benji has been named a NYTimes Changemaker, and awarded the Fortune 40 Under 40, Forbes 30 Under 30, GreenBiz 30 Under 30, and Grist 50. Benji is a fellow at The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) — and is one of the leading youth environmental voices in the country. Above all, Backer is an avid outdoorsman who spends most of his free time in the mountains out West. He's a proud graduate of the University of Washington and resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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David Livingston
Chief Strategy Officer, Galvanize
David Livingston is an energy transition strategist working at the intersection of technology, markets, and geopolitics. Before joining Galvanize, he served in two U.S. Presidential administrations: as senior advisor to John Kerry, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, in the Biden-Harris administration, and as the inaugural Robert S. Strauss Fellow for Geoeconomics at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama-Biden administration. He is USC’s inaugural Innovation & Sustainability Fellow and advises Eni Next and Novo Nordisk. He previously worked at Eurasia Group and helped build programs at Atlantic Council and Carnegie.
Lila Preston
Partner, Generation Investment Management
Lila joined Generation in 2004 and is the Head of the Growth Equity Strategy. Prior to joining Generation, Lila was a Director of Finance & Development at VolunteerMatch. Previously, she was a Fulbright Fellow in Southern Chile where she worked on community-based forestry and conservation projects. Lila currently serves as a Board Observer at Pivot Bio, Nature’s Fynd, CiBO Technologies, and Optoro. She is on the Board of Advisors at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Lila received a BA in English Language and Literature from Stanford University and an MBA from London Business School.
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Jay Lipman
Co-founder, Resilience, THE NAT & Ethic
Jay Lipman is Co-founder of Resilience, THE NAT, and Ethic. As co-founder of Ethic, he helped grow the firm into a category-leading sustainable investing platform managing more than $8 billion in assets. That experience shaped his ability to turn ideas at the edge of finance into mainstream, investable solutions.
Today, Jay applies that same approach to climate and nature, building new asset classes that align financial returns with ecosystem restoration, housing decarbonization, and the regeneration of food systems.
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Philippe Cousteau
CEO and Co-Founder, Voyacy Regen
Inspired by the legacy of his grandfather Jacques Cousteau and his father Philippe Sr. Philippe Cousteau has built his career around protecting and restoring our Ocean. He is a globally recognized business leader, filmmaker, and ocean innovator. He co-founded Voyacy, including Voyacy Regen, which pioneers commercial-scale coral reef restoration, and SeaVoir, a vegan, algae-based Omega-3 brand. Through Voyacy Media, he hosts and executive produces the multi-Emmy nominated series Awesome Planet and has led programs for CNN, Discovery, and the BBC. In 2005, he founded EarthEcho International, activating more than 2 million youth in 146 countries.
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Olivia Watkins
Co-Founder and President, Black Farmer Fund
Olivia Watkins (she/her) is Co-Founder and President of Black Farmer Fund, a community-governed investment fund supporting Black farmers and food businesses across the Northeast. She serves on the Board of Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT and is co-recipient of the 2023 James Beard Humanitarian of the Year Award. Olivia's work focuses on creating equitable access to capital and land for farmers and food businesses building regenerative food systems.
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Marcene Mitchell
Senior Vice President of Climate Change, World Wildlife Fund
Marcene Mitchell is Senior Vice President of Climate Change at WWF, advancing the
organization’s U.S. and global climate agenda and strengthening synergies across mitigation and resilience efforts, with a focus on nature-based solutions. Her role is crosscutting, reflecting the imperative to address the climate crisis. Previously, Marcene was Head of Climate Strategy and Business Development at the
IFC, where she pioneered market transformation initiatives in low carbon technologies,
including resource efficiency, distributed solar, offshore wind, and waste and water
management. She is Chairperson of the Montgomery County Green Bank Board of
Directors.
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Emmy Scott
Executive Director, Earth Guardians
organization’s U.S. and global climate agenda and strengthening synergies across mitigation and resilience efforts, with a focus on nature-based solutions. Her role is crosscutting, reflecting the imperative to address the climate crisis. Previously, Marcene was Head of Climate Strategy and Business Development at the
2026 Speakers
2026 Sponsors
2026 Sponsors
The Program
The Language of Life: How Translating Animal Communication Can Transform Our Relationship with Nature
The Language of Life: How Translating Animal Communication Can Transform Our Relationship with Nature
Investing in the Planetary Boundaries: How Planetary Health Drives Human Health
Investing in the Planetary Boundaries: How Planetary Health Drives Human Health
The Power of Intergenerational Collaboration
The Power of Intergenerational Collaboration
Healthy Narratives, Rooted in Truth: How Climate Can Bring Together a Divided World
Healthy Narratives, Rooted in Truth: How Climate Can Bring Together a Divided World
Accelerating Philanthropy for Climate
Accelerating Philanthropy for Climate
Moving Mountains: The Solutions to Secure Our Highest Regions
Moving Mountains: The Solutions to Secure Our Highest Regions
Pricing What We Value: How Markets Are Scaling for Durable Carbon Removal, Nature, and Communities
Pricing What We Value: How Markets Are Scaling for Durable Carbon Removal, Nature, and Communities
Impact Taking the Stage: How Events Can Deliver Results for Nature
Impact Taking the Stage: How Events Can Deliver Results for Nature
Transforming the Grid for Resilience
Transforming the Grid for Resilience
The New Gold Rush: Ensuring Security and Stewardship – The Race for Critical Minerals in the Age of AI and Clean Power
The New Gold Rush: Ensuring Security and Stewardship – The Race for Critical Minerals in the Age of AI and Clean Power
Building Resilient Food Systems: Showcase & Pitch Session
Building Resilient Food Systems: Showcase & Pitch Session
Why Data Is the Missing Ingredient in the Regenerative Agriculture Revolution
Why Data Is the Missing Ingredient in the Regenerative Agriculture Revolution
The Secret Force for Resilience: Small Businesses
The Secret Force for Resilience: Small Businesses
Recent breakthroughs in decoding animal communication are awakening human empathy and driving a new wave of protection for our planet.
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Culinary Experiences
The Forum features diverse culinary experiences focused on sustainable practices and locally sourced ingredients, with farm-to-table dining and regional flavors throughout the valley and beyond.
What's On the Table
Drinkers of the Wind Farm Tour
Drinkers of the Wind Farm Tour
Opening Reception at Sun Valley Lodge
Opening Reception at Sun Valley Lodge
Dinner at Trail Creek Cabin
Dinner at Trail Creek Cabin
Galena Lodge BBQ
Galena Lodge BBQ
Closing Reception & Dinner at Redfish Lake Lodge
Closing Reception & Dinner at Redfish Lake Lodge
On our opening day, the Drinkers of the Wind Farm immersive tour offers an on-the-ground look at regenerative agriculture in action. Walk the fields with the farm’s stewards and explore how soil health, climate, and community connect in one living system, and how regenerative practices can restore biodiversity and strengthen a resilient food future. The experience includes an outdoor networking lunch highlighting local producers, fresh produce, and plant-based foods, followed by a brief farm talk to spark deeper dialogue about growing within planetary limits, rooted in science and real-world practice.
Adventure Day
Choose Your Adventure
E-bike Ride from Smiley Creek to Redfish Lake
E-bike Ride from Smiley Creek to Redfish Lake
Wildflowers & Wine Tour with Sun Valley Guides
Wildflowers & Wine Tour with Sun Valley Guides
White Water Rafting the Main Salmon River
White Water Rafting the Main Salmon River
Adventure Day at Redfish Lake
Adventure Day at Redfish Lake
Glide through the valley from Smiley Creek to Redfish Lake on an e-bike, where open roads, alpine air, and sweeping Sawtooth views make the journey as memorable as the destination. This relaxed ride offers an effortless way to take in the landscape, moving with the terrain as rivers, forests, and peaks unfold around you.
Host a Multiplier Effect Workshop
Convene a curated group of cross-sector leaders to advance a specific challenge or opportunity, designed to surface practical insights, forge partnerships, and move capital, policy, or practice forward.
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Co-Create a Main Stage Panel or Forum Conversation
Shape the agenda alongside Forum leadership by elevating voices, case studies, and perspectives aligned with your priorities, positioning your organization within trusted, solution-driven dialogue.
Gather in Nature: Host a Dinner or Immersive Experience
Create space for deeper connection through a hosted dinner, hike, or nature-based activity, where relationships are built through shared experience, reflection, and time in the landscape we aim to protect.
Frequently Asked Questions
We will be hosting free film screenings and Q&A at the Sun Valley Inn with the filmmakers of River of Run and Oceania. Join us at 5:00 pm MT in the Continental Room!
On the morning of June 15th, you are invited to join a hike in the nearby mountains, a net zero home tour, or a lunch and tour of Drinkers of the Wind Regenerative Farm.
Registration is open starting at 9:00 am MT on the 15th to pick up your badge for access to Forum events. Our opening plenary will begin at 3:00 pm MT at the Sun Valley Opera House.Please secure your travel arrangements as soon as possible, as summer is a busy season in Sun Valley.
You may find daily non-stop flight schedules into Sun Valley’s Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) via the Fly Sun Valley Alliance. If you’re staying at the Sun Valley Resort, they have a free shuttle service from SUN to the resort (approximately 20 minute drive), so please provide them with your flight information to arrange a pickup.
Flying into Boise (BOI) is also an option, with daily shuttles or rental cars available for the scenic 2.5-hour drive to Sun Valley.
We encourage everyone to stay in our room block at the resort. Other area properties are available via Airbnb or VRBO.
If you choose to stay in Ketchum, it is ~1 mile from the Resort so please plan to arrange your own transportation, which the hotels may be able to provide. See our recommended hotels above including Limelight Hotel, Hotel Ketchum and Tamarack Hotel.