Scott Conway is the Chief Resilience Officer of Vibrant Planet and brings proven natural resource leadership and management experience to multi-jurisdictional resilience management challenges. Scott is a 20-year US Forest Service veteran in land management with a diverse set of roles including District Ranger, Spatial Ecologist, FireFighter and Forester. Scott is determined to help transition data to insight in an effort to streamline all aspects of the resilience management lifecycle with the ultimate goal of making our communities more defensible and our wild and working lands more resilient to climate exacerbated disturbance like wildfire.

Maggie leads low-carbon R&D for sustainable energy transitions at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory including how forested landscapes can manage biomass for improved resiliency to fire and other disturbances. She focuses on nature-based solutions and datasets to inform community-driven regional planning for net-zero goals. With expertise in biomass markets, she leads a project on natural capital markets (ecosystem services payments), manages the data repository (bioenergyKDF.ornl.gov) for the Billion-Ton 2023 (BT23), is the lead author of the BT23 forestry analysis, and previously led the agricultural residues and dedicated energy crop analysis in BT-2016. With an academic background in geography and economics (bachelors) and forestry (masters) from the University of Tennessee, she is now working on a PhD at Colorado State University in Systems Engineering. This research aims to provide better integration of key data and tools in support of decision-making on agricultural and forestry land management that improves resilience in forested landscapes. Maggie lives in Tennessee with her husband and daughter. 

Brian Kittler leads American Forests’ Resilient Forests program and its work on climate-informed reforestation and forest climate strategies. Prior to joining American Forests in 2020, he advanced forest conservation programs and policy innovations through stints with the Pinchot Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Northwest. Kittler’s work at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation focused on directing financial and technical assistance for watershed restoration. An operator at the interface of science, policy, and programs, Kittler has served on the federal Wildfire Mitigation and Management Commission, as well as boards and committees related to forest carbon science, forest bioenergy markets, and forest certification standards. He holds degrees from Colby College and the Johns Hopkins University in policy and science. Brian lives in Oregon.   

Alison joined the Colorado Department of Natural Resources Executive Director’s Office in September 2021, as the Program Administrator for the newly formed wildfire mitigation team, creating the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program and building partnerships with the Colorado Youth Corps Association and the Department of Corrections State Wildland Inmate Fire Crew program. The Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program became a permanent program in 2023, and has invested over $30 million into strategic wildfire mitigation and forestry projects. Alison graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.S. in Forestry. She has a diverse career in forestry and wildfire resilience working for both Tribal and state governments, nonprofit organizations, and serving on a municipal fire department.

The Forest Health & Wildfire Mitigation Program Advisor provides analysis and policy recommendations to the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director and the Colorado State Forest Service on forestry and wildfire mitigation issues, manages the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program, and facilitates shared stewardship efforts with state and federal partners.

Mike Morgan is a Colorado native, born in Grand Junction and growing up on their family ranch he has spent most of his life in Garfield County. He began his fire service career in 1986 and has spent 30 years serving his community and the Colorado fire service.  Mike oversaw Colorado River Fire Rescue, a full-service fire department with over 100 career and volunteer members.  

He served for over 10 years on the Colorado State Fire Chiefs’ Board of Directors (including two terms as President), has participated in several projects with the International Association of Fire Chief’s, and has a long history of championing fire service-related issues. His work includes the ongoing collaborative efforts to unify Colorado’s fire service and to promote local community interests directed towards the mission of “saving lives and property”. Before becoming the Director of the DFPC in 2016, Mike was the recipient of the coveted John M. Buckman III Leadership Award, presented by the International Association of Fire Chief’s.  

Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) is a nonprofit social enterprise powered by a network of young adults, ages 18-24, who are justice-focused, comitted to creating sustainable communities and pursuing a meaningful path to career success. As a leader in positive youth development, workforce development and community-based service, our Youth Corps completes conservation, construction and healthcare projects across 23 Colorado counties. For over 30 years, our work is making a difference for communities today and building a stronger workforce for tomorrow.