We also have up a draft schedule under the Schedule tab.

A good slate of sponsors is supporting the conference, and this year individuals can support the conference by sponsoring at any level.

Finally, don’t forget that Envirothon still needs your auction items!

We are excited to share that our sponsors page is also getting busy. Remember, sponsors help keep conference costs in check for you.

Sunday Evening

6:00 – 8:00 PM Casual Dinner
Similar to last years’ unplanned outing, WACD has reserved a room at Bob’s Classic Brass & Brews and will be paying for the food of those who need to arrive early for the conference. 

Monday Morning

Monday morning is oriented to the new Supervisors and new Managers in our community – Golden Delicious Room

9:00 – 9:30 AM Welcome from State Leadership, Initial thoughts, Q&A

9:30 – 10:30 AM Breakout Sessions:

• Legislative Process and Engagement by WACD Lobbyist Brynn Brady
• Discussion on Governance Roles for Board and Staff
• Why You Shouldn’t be Afraid of Roberts Rules of Order (or How to have a Fun with Parliamentary Procedure) by Ryan Baye

10:00 – 11:30 AM – Special Virtual Presentation hosted by WDFW on Washington Shrubsteppe Restoration and Resiliency Initiative. (click here to join)

10:30 – 10:45 AM – Break

10:50 – 11:50 AM – Breakout sessions for New Supervisors and New Managers

Monday Lunch

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch for morning session participants w/WDFW Lands Division Manager Cynthia Wilkerson – Grand Apple Ballroom

Monday Afternoon

Monday afternoon is about Conservation Districts and the 2024 Legislative Session

1:00 – 1:45 PM Legislative Panel with Rep. Mike Chapman (D- Port Angeles) & invited Rep. Mike Steele (R- Chelan) – Orchard Hall South

1:45 – 2:15 PM FSA Executive Director Jon Wyss – Orchard Hall South

2:15 – 2:30 PM Break

2:30 – 3:45 PM Breakout Sessions on Natural Resource Topics

2:30 – 3:00 PM WSU Least-Conflict Solar Siting Study presented by Karen Janowitz – Orchard Hall South

2:30 – 3:00 PM DNR Carbon Project presented by Csenka Favorini-Csorba – Golden Delicious

2:30 – 3:00 PM Burrowing Shrimp and Green Crab on Washington’s Coast presented by Mike Nordin – Gala 1

3:00 – 3:15 PM Break

3:15 – 3:45 PM Virtual Fencing presented by Jordan Ryckman – Gala 1

3:15 – 3:45 PM Ecology Cap and Invest Program presented by Jihan Grettenberger and Adrian Young – Orchard Hall South

3:15 – 3:45 PM 6PPD-quinone in the Puget Sound presented by Tanya Williams – Golden Delicious

4:00 – 4:45 PM Presentation/Discussion on 2024 Legislative Priorities w/Brynn Brady & Tom Salzer, and WACD’s Approach – Orchard Hall South

4:45 – 5:15 PM Commissioner Candidate Forum for Central Area Representative – Orchard Hall South

Monday Evening

6:30 – 8:30 PM WACD Awards Dinner & Supervisor Recognition – Grand Apple Ballroom

Tuesday Morning

7:00 – 8:30 AM Breakfast Buffet – Grand Apple Ballroom

Tuesday morning is the General Session for all
8:30 – 9:00 AM State Leadership Welcome – Orchard Hall South

• Sarah Groth, Washington State Conservation Commission
• Roylene Comes at Night, Natural Resource Conservation Service
• Michael Crowder & Caleb Griffin, National Association of Conservation Districts
• Mike Mumford, Pend Oreille Conservation District

9:00 – 9:30 AM “Why We Said Yes to Conservation”, a cooperator panel. – Orchard Hall South

9:30 – 10:30 AM Dr. Sutton, Cultivating Effective Outreach While Staying True to Your Mission – Orchard Hall South

10:30 – 10:45 AM Break

10:45 – 12:00 PM District Operations Breakout Sessions

10:45 – 11:15 AM Social Media and How to do it Better with Laura Meyer and Nate Gallahan – Orchard Hall South

10:45 – 11:15 AM Learning about Successful RCPPs a Panel Discussion with Walt Edelen, Jennifer Boie, & NRCS Staff – Golden Delicious

10:45 – 11:15 AM District Office Buildings presented by Vicki Carter – Gala 1

11:15 – 11:30 AM Break

11:30 – 12:00 PM Strategic Planning for Impact presented by Josh Monaghan – Golden Delicious

11:30 – 12:00 PM Sharing District Resources with Renee Hadley and Zorah Oppenheimer – Gala 1

11:30 – 12:00 PM Why I serve, an Associate Supervisor Panel with Pauline Hagen and Randy Kelly – Orchard Hall South

Tuesday Lunch

12:00 – 1:00 PM Luncheon w/WFFA Executive Elaine Oneil – Grand Apple Ballroom

Tuesday Afternoon

Tuesday afternoon features the Washington State Conservation Commission – Orchard Hall South

1:00 – 2:45 PM WSCC Updates

• Executive Director
• Legislative/Budget
• Communications
• Existing Programs Overview
• Riparian Programs
• SFF
• Disaster/Fire/Forest/CWR Programs Update

2:45 – 3:00 PM Break

3:00 – 4:00 PM Enduris Presentation

4:00 – 5:00 PM Board Self Evaluations Panel

5:00 – 6:00 PM Washington Conservation Society Annual Meeting – Red Delicious

Tuesday Evening

6:00 – 8:30 PM Dinner Banquet & Envirothon Auction – Grand Apple Ballroom

Wednesday – WACD Annual Business Meeting

8:00 – 9:00 AM Buffet Breakfast – Grand Apple Ballroom

2023 Business Meeting – Orchard Hall

Annual Business Meeting Zoom Information

Zoom Link – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85052403653?pwd=UDJORGJuV1FJL1Z5RHkrZTlnMGRSUT09

Zoom Number: (253) 215 8782

Meeting ID: 850 5240 3653 | Passcode: 199848

• 9:00 AM – Meeting called to Order/Roll Call of Member Districts
• 9:10 AM – Rules of Order & Meeting Procedures Briefing
  • Parliamentary Procedure Cheat Sheet
• 9:20 AM – Approval of 2022 Business Meeting Minutes
  • 2022 Business Meeting Draft Minutes
  • 2022 Business Meeting Zoom Recording
• 9:25 AM – Public Comment Period
• 9:30 AM – Treasurer’s Report for FY2022 & Report on Current Fiscal Year
• 9:40 AM – Plant Materials Center Status Report
• 9:50 AM – Committee Reports
• 10:00 AM – Resolutions as Recommended by the Natural Resources Policy Committee
• 11:00 AM – Resolutions as Recommended by the Legislative, Bylaws, and District Policies Committee

11:30 am – 12:30 pm

• Lunch Recess – Grand Apple Ballroom

12:30 pm – 4:30 pm

• 12:30 PM – Resolutions (Continued)
• 1:30 PM – Other Business (If necessary)
• 1:45 PM – WACD Proposed Bylaw Changes (If necessary)
• 2:30 PM – Election of WACD Officers 
  • Secretary (two-year term)
  • Treasurer (two-year term)
  • National Director (two-year term)
• 3:00 PM – Tentative Business Meeting Adjournment

Thursday – WSCC Meeting

Brynn Brady, President, Ceiba Consulting

Brynn Brady is the President of Ceiba Consulting, Inc., a private consulting firm that specializes in legislative advocacy and government relations services in Washington state. She brings more than 22 years of experience building relationships with elected state and agency officials, city and county governments, businesses and non-profit organizations and representing their issues at the local and state level.

Brynn was raised in Tacoma, WA and currently resides there with her family. After graduating from Washington State University with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Environmental Science, Brynn served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala from 1997-1999. Upon her return, she began her career as a Senior Planner in Pierce County where she had direct involvement in developing local, regional and state land use and natural resource policies and regulations.

She applied this local experience toward a new role in government relations as Pierce County’s primary advocate for land use and natural resource issues and eventually covered other county government interests including budget requests, transportation, economic development and criminal justice.

Ceiba Consulting was created in 2014 in order to realize Brynn’s talents in advocacy and facilitation. In Olympia, she represents clients with a variety of interests including public health, health care, pharmaceuticals, natural resources, environment, land use, technology, business, and local government. Current clients include: Amazon Web Services, Washington State Association of Public Health Officials, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Washington Association of Conservation Districts, Washington Association of Land Trusts, Regional Fisheries Coalition, Audubon Washington, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, Bank of America, Détente Management, Special Olympics Washington, Washington State Association of Counties, City of Woodinville and Pierce County Regional Council.

Vicki Carter, Director, Spokane Conservation District

Vicki Carter currently serves as the Director of the Spokane Conservation District. Her management experience includes over 30 years in human resource management, accounting and financial management, project and program development, and governmental insurance programs. She provides input to policy and legislative matters at local and state levels.

Vicki is active in the veteran community of Spokane through her work as Director of Vets on the Farm. VOTF has gained statewide and national attention by emphasizing the growing need to fill a gap in our agricultural production with Veterans ready for a new mission. Vicki was instrumental in the formation of the Farmer Veteran Coalition Washington State Chapter and serves on the national Farmer Veteran Coalition Board of Directors.

Over the last six years, Vicki has been instrumental in the development of a 50-acre former rock quarry in the heart of Spokane. The site is transforming into a conservation campus which is now home to the new office of the Spokane Conservation District. Future plans include conference and event space, a permanent year-round farmers market, guided hiking trails, and outdoor educational classrooms and demonstration areas.

Mike Chapman, Representative, 24th Legislative District

Mike Chapman served for a decade as a local law enforcement officer and U.S. Customs Inspector. He then served four terms as a Clallam County Commissioner.

He received his master’s degree in Leadership and Liberal Studies from Duquesne University, his bachelor’s in Organizational Management from Northwest College and his Associates of Arts and Sciences from Shoreline College.

His volunteer and civic involvement includes:

• Clallam County Board of Health (chair, board member)
• Boys and Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula (board president)
• North Olympic Baseball and Softball (board director)
• William Shore Memorial Pool District (founder, chair, board member)
• Peninsula Regional Transportation Planning Organization (chair)
• Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce (board director)

Mike lives in Port Angeles with his wife, Bobbi, and together they have two sons, Larsson and Anders, both in college.

Roylene Comes At Night, State Conservationist, NRCS

Roylene M Comes At Night, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) State Conservationist (formerly Rides at the Door) is the 5th generation raised on her family’s cattle and horse ranch located on the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana. Her family continues to reside on the original allotment the government assigned to her great-greatgrandfather, Rides at the Door.

Comes At Night graduated from Montana State University (MSU), where she majored in Range Science and minored in Soils Science. She grew up in a traditional environment on her family’s ranch and was raised with cultural values of caring for the land. Her father’s work in natural resources and her mother’s role as a science teacher contributed to what she felt was her destiny – a career in conservation. Roylene enjoys mentoring up and coming employees in NRCS. She also enjoys and participates in many tribal ceremonies.

Roylene began work with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 32 years ago as a student trainee. After graduation, she worked full-time as a Soil Conservationist in several local field offices in Montana working with local ranchers, farmers, landowners, and tribes. Her leadership career began when she was promoted to District Conservationist in Shelby, Montana where she supervised employees and directed operations of the local county office. Roylene’s next career move took her to Phoenix, Arizona where she was asked to serve as one of the nation’s first State American Indian Tribal Liaisons. Comes At Night continued her leadership development through a promotion to Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations where she led the operations for 21 local field offices and supervised directly and indirectly 63 employees in South East Oklahoma.

In 2005, Roylene was selected as NRCS’s first American Indian Female State Conservationist of Rhode Island. In this capacity, she worked with the Governor’s office and partners to expand conservation efforts especially involving conservation easements. In 2008, Comes At Night was named State Conservationist of Washington State. She has strengthened agricultural and conservation partnerships, improved outreach to underserved communities and bridged together Tribes, agriculture and conservation partners to better preserve the lands of Washington State. Roylene currently serves as the second longest standing State Conservationist in the nation and resides in Spokane, WA with her husband, Michael and two cocker spaniels Rex and Cody.

Joe Davis, Director of Risk Management and Member Relations, Enduris

Joe is the Director of Risk Management and Member Relations at Enduris. Joe joined the Enduris team in 2016, partnering with Enduris members to help with proactive risk and coverage services.

Joe comes to Enduris with over 25 years of insurance experience, mostly in the Commercial Lines insurance arena. Joe’s professional experience in the industry includes: sales, sales management, risk management, underwriting, and administration.

Joe holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration at Washington State University (Go Cougs!). In addition, Joe keeps updated in the insurance industry having earned the professional designations of Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Risk Manager (CRM) through the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research.

“I look forward to meeting Enduris members where they are at – learning what they do to serve their communities, listening to their needs.”

Csenka Favorini-Csorba, Policy Director, DNR

Csenka has been working in natural resource policy for nearly a decade. She is currently the Policy Director at the Washington State Department of Resources (DNR), where she leads a team of policy experts working on issues ranging from natural and working lands carbon sequestration, to alternative energies, to affordable housing. Prior to joining DNR she co-led the forest program at an international non-profit that partners with companies to trace, create, and improve responsible supply chains that respect human rights and encompass key environmental protections. Outside of her state agency day job, she is also an elected Board Supervisor for the King Conservation District.

Nate Gallahan, State Public Affairs Specialist, NRCS

Nate Gallahan is the State Public Affairs Specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Washington. He was born and raised in North Idaho and joined the United States Air Force in 1997. After sixteen years and six deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places in the Middle East, he was hired on by the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the principle military advisor to the President. He served on the Joint Staff for three years, before his career-culminating assignment at the Air University, where he taught our nation’s most senior military leaders strategic leadership communications. He retired from military service in 2018 before transitioning to a more peaceful life as a student at Eastern Washington University, where he completed his Master of Science in Communications.

Nate was hired onto the NRCS as a Public Affairs contractor, before winning the hearts and minds of his NRCS family, who quickly leveraged their unique ability to hire disabled veterans into federal positions and promoted him to State Public Affairs Specialist in less than ten months. Since then, he has been busy building, aligning, and synchronizing all NRCS-Washington’s Communications & Outreach (C&O) initiatives, including Community Outreach, Media Relations, Organizational Communications, and Crisis Communications.

Nate has been married to his beautiful Filipina wife Edna Gallahan, for 16 years, and together they raise their two pets, Bella, “The fluffiest and most orange cat in the world” and Susie, “the sweetest and most intelligent terrier ever.”

Jihan Grettenberger, Cap-and-Invest Outreach Specialist, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

Jihan is the Cap-and-Invest Community Engagement Specialist with Washington Department of Ecology. She has over 10 years of experience in the field of sustainability education and community engagement working in waste management in Bellingham, conservation efforts with Peace Corps in Panama, and wastewater education in Olympia. She is a Washingtonian who loves the easy access to outdoor recreation and long gardening season.

Caleb Griffin, Pacific Region Representative, NACD

Caleb Griffin has served as the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Pacific Region Representative since October of 2022, and came to NACD from the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) where he served in a variety of capacities, most recently as a Soil Conservationist in Susanville, CA. He also served on NRCS’s West Side Snow Survey Team and the CA Civil Rights Advisory Committee, and has prior working experience as a Soils Technician with the US Forest Service and Range Technician with NRCS-South Dakota. Caleb resides in Susanville, CA with his family of 4 and owns/operates a small vegetable farm and composting facility. He is a founding member of a local food and farm cooperative in his community. Caleb is a graduate of West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and focus in Agroecology. Caleb works to serve the interests of locally led conservation throughout NACD’s Pacific Region, including Alaska, American Samoa, California, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho Oregon, Palau, and Washington. He can be reached at (202)547-6223 or .

Sarah Groth, Interim Executive Director, Washington Conservation Commission

Sarah joined the State Conservation Commission in January 2015 as a fiscal analyst. She was promoted to her current role as the director of accounting and budget in 2019. In this position, she holds responsibility for all financial and budgetary affairs at SCC and supervises the six-person fiscal team. Sarah boasts an impressive background of over two decades of financial expertise in both the public and private sectors.

‍Her wealth of knowledge encompasses the intricacies of state government operations, with a particular emphasis on budgeting. Before her tenure at SCC, Sarah served as a Fiscal Analyst in the Department of Enterprise Services, specifically within the Small Agency Client Services division. She also gained experience working for the state printer.

‍She currently resides in Olympia, Washington, with her husband, two daughters, and two rambunctious pups. Sarah also serves on the Olympia Education Foundation board of trustees and enjoys traveling with her family.

Renee Hadley, District Manager, Walla Walla County Conservation District

Renee M Hadley is the District Manager for the Walla Walla County Conservation District. She is a licensed geologist with a background in soil identification, landslides mitigation, and erosion hazards. She has dabbled with agricultural extension and k-12 education.

Karen Janowitz, Program Coordinator, WSU Energy Program

Karen Janowitz is a program coordinator at Washington State University Energy Program. She has over 30 years of experience in project leadership and management; implementing, marketing and managing energy efficiency and environmental programs; group facilitation; environmental education; writing and communications; and administration. Her work has included emerging technologies, energy conservation in commercial buildings, and large-scale solar photovoltaic siting issues. She holds a B.A. in geology from the University of Colorado and a Master of Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College.

Laura Meyer, Vice President of Creative Strategy, KR Creative Strategies

Laura learned about conservation districts while finishing her Master’s degree in Environmental Communication. Since then, she’s devoted her career to promoting CDs and their importance. Laura is Vice President of Creative Strategy for KR Creative Strategies (KRCS), a Washington-headquartered communications company that specializes in serving clients in natural resources and agriculture. She’s the lead for all KRCS conservation clients, including many conservation districts across the country. Prior to joining KRCS, Laura served as Communications Director for the Washington State Conservation Commission and chaired the Communications Committee for the National Association of State Conservation Agencies. She lives in Decorah, Iowa with her husband and long-haired Weimaraner, and she enjoys regular trips back to Washington — a state she proudly called home for 13 years.

Josh Monaghan, Principal, Monaghan Consulting

Monaghan Consulting partners with Conservation Districts and other mission-driven organizations on action-oriented planning (strategy, implementation, assessment), organizational development support, and collaborative problem-solving. Josh (Principal) has 30 years of experience working in natural resource conservation. Twenty-four years were with King Conservation District (1996-2020), where he helped grow the food and farm programs and services, partnered on efforts that doubled district programs and funding, and broadened and deepened many vital partnerships and collaborations. In 2021, Josh served as Interim District Manager at Whidbey Island Conservation District. Current clients include conservation, watershed, and farming-focused districts and nonprofits.

Dr. Elaine Oneil, Executive Director, Washington Farm Forestry Association

Dr. Elaine Oneil has spent nearly 40 years in the forest sector including operational forestry and management, conducting research on climate change, timber supply modeling and analysis, forest carbon dynamics, life cycle assessment of forest operations and wood products. She now dedicates a significant amount of her time to integrating these elements within a policy and economic framework that works for small forest landowners. Since 2013, Dr. Elaine Oneil has served as the Executive Director of the Washington Farm Forestry Association, a small forest landowner organization whose members embody the motto “Stewards of the Land For Generations to Come”. Since 2017 she has also served as the Director of Science and Sustainability for CORRIM (Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials), a university research consortium that has spent 26 years conducting life cycle inventory and life cycle assessments on wood products from cradle to grave. She is a small forest landowner, author, educator, and regularly testifies as an expert witness on carbon, climate change, and forest operations.

Zorah Oppenheimer, Executive Director, Clark Conservation District

Zorah Oppenheimer joined Clark Conservation District in 2014 as a Resource Technician and in 2018, transitioned to District Manager, then Executive Director. She has a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources with an emphasis on Wildlife Ecology and a minor in Fine Art from Washington State University Pullman. Zorah is a second-generation Washingtonian with a love of the wide variety of ecosystems we have here. She is deeply passionate about the shared culture of voluntary stewardship among conservation districts, and she genuinely loves her work. In her spare time, Zorah enjoys snuggling with her son and animals by the fireplace, crafting, photography, listening to podcasts, and being outside.

Jordan Ryckman, Conservation Coordinator, Conservation Northwest

Jordan Ryckman, a Conservation Coordinator based in Ellensburg, has worked for 3 years with Conservation Northwest’s Sagelands Heritage Program. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biology from Central Washington University, carrying out wildlife research as part of the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project. With current objectives to maintain, restore and connect shrub-steppe landscapes from BC to Oregon, Jordan feels very much at home working with partners, private and public landowners, and producers to look for ways to help ongoing efforts to maintain critical linkages between core areas of shrub-steppe habitat in the area. Jordan has worked one-on-one with ranchers and land managers to plan and implement virtual fence projects in Okanogan, Douglas, Kittitas, and Klickitat Counties. Virtual fence offers an amazing opportunity to reduce barriers to wildlife while increasing the ability to move and manage cattle herds. We are excited to share information, successes, and learnings from local virtual fence projects with Washington State producers and land managers.

Mike Stelle, Representative, 12th Legislative District

Sworn into office in 2017, Mike Steele represents the 12th District, which includes parts of Chelan, Douglas, King and Snohomish counties. Mike’s passion for economic vitality, sustainable job growth, and career and technical education is the foundation of his legislative work.

As the deputy leader of the House Republican Caucus, Mike is involved in several high-level bipartisan policy negotiations. He also serves as the assistant ranking member on the House Capital Budget Committee and as a member of the Education and Rules committees.

A lifelong resident of Lake Chelan Valley, Mike graduated from Manson High School and went on to receive degrees in Business Administration and Political Science from Pacific Lutheran University. After graduating from college, he served in the White House Office of Political Affairs for the Northwest region of the United States under President George Bush.

After returning to his home state to work for the House Republican Caucus for Leadership during the 2006 legislative session and interim, Mike was hired as the executive director of the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce. Mike has led the Lake Chelan Valley business community for more than 12 years, expanding economic and job opportunities throughout the region.

In addition to his work at the Chamber, Mike is deeply committed to his community. A former member of the Chelan City Council, Mike is the youngest president ever elected to the Lake Chelan Rotary Club and is an active member of the Lake Chelan Community Hospital Foundation. Additionally, he serves as a trustee for both the Association of Washington Business and the North Central Washington Community Foundation.

Mike lives in Chelan. In his free time, he enjoys downhill skiing, boating, and spending time with his family and English springer spaniel, Bentley, at his family’s cabin in Lucerne.

Allen Sutton, Executive Director for Equity Education, Office of the Chancellor at Washington State University

Currently serving as the Executive Director for Equity Education, Office of the Chancellor at Washington State University, Dr. Allen Sutton is well-versed in comprehending and navigating issues that prevent a people, organizations, and institutions from being fully inclusive while developing the professionals and citizens of tomorrow. He is driven to help everyone feel a sense of “fit” within their respective roles on campus and surrounding communities. Utilizing more than 15 years of experience in various offices and departments at both large and small institutions, he works to be an advocate for expanding access to underserved communities by educating and empowering people via workshops, trainings, retreats, and other high impact practice activities. He is married to his college sweetheart, Latoya, and they have two wonderful children, Aresia and Chandler. He is a proud alum of the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Alabama. At Southern Miss, he received, both his Bachelor’s (Psychology) and Master’s (College Student Personnel) degrees and at Alabama, he received his Ed.D in Higher Education Administration. His primary research area includes instilling empathy and respect into diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

Cynthia Wilkerson, Lands Division Manager, Wildlife Program, WDFW

Cynthia Wilkerson oversees stewardship and recreation on 1 million acres in 33 Wildlife Areas and 500 water access areas throughout Washington as Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Lands Division Manager. Cynthia is passionate about the power of place to transform lives and communities and to motivate collaborative, landscape-level conservation. She believes strongly in engaging all perspectives to develop enduring conservation solutions. She has been with WDFW for 10 years, has worked as a conservation advocate for Defenders of Wildlife, The Wilderness Society, and in the Great Bear Rainforest. Cynthia holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Conservation and Wildlife Ecology from University of Washington and the University of Florida. Cynthia enjoys outdoor adventures, fitness, travel and lives in Olympia with her husband and two sons.

Tanya Williams, 6PPD Lead Agency Planner, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

Tanya Williams serves as the Washington State Department of Ecology’s 6PPD Lead Agency Planner. She coordinates 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone strategic planning across the department, interfaces with state, federal and Tribal governments, and is a lead for the ITRC Tire Anti-Degradant (6PPD) Team. Tanya is also the project manager for Ecology’s 6PPD action plan. Prior to her role at Ecology, Tanya spent 20 years as an environmental scientist at federal and local government departments, including at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site. She specializes in the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, air dispersion modeling, health risk assessments, environmental management systems, environmental justice, and program development. Tanya is the outgoing Chair of the Air & Waste Management Association’s Environmental Justice Inter-Committee Task Force and is an ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems Lead Auditor. She received her Bachelor of Science in biology and Bachelor in Business Administration and Management from Eastern Washington University in Washington State.

Jon Wyss, State Executive Director, USDA FSA Washington State

Jon Wyss was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Washington State in February 2022.

Prior to his appointment, Wyss worked for his wife’s family company, Gebbers Farms, as an Analyst and Government Affairs Director. He also served as the Chief Deputy Assessor for Spokane County and temporarily served as a Washington State Senator for the 6th Legislative District.

Wyss served as Vice President of USA Farmers, U.S. Apple Association North Region Director, Chairman of the Okanogan Long Term Recovery Group, President of Okanogan County Farm Bureau, Washington State Farm Bureau Board Member, and Chairman of the Coalition for Property Rights. He also served as an advisor to various legislative committees at the local, state, and national levels for over 18 years.

Wyss attended Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas. While attending college, he began an 11-year career with the United States Bankruptcy Trustee for the Northern District of Texas.

Wyss and his wife Melanie have three daughters and one son. He enjoys volunteering with the Boys and Girls Clubs in Brewster, Washington, and recently opened a Boys and Girls Club on the Colville Federated Tribes Reservation.

Adrian Young, Industrial Policy Lead, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

Adrian is the Industrial Policy Lead for the cap and invest program at the Department of Ecology. He has over 12 years of experience working on climate, environmental policy and sustainable development initiatives in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Africa. He has a Masters degree in International Urban and Environmental Management from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia (his home country) and joined the cap and invest program in June 2023 after moving to the US from New Zealand with his family.