2025 SPEAKERS

Andy Abranches

VP, Wildfire Mitigation
PG&E

  • Andy has been with PG&E since 2008 and has worked in engineering and operational roles across the utility. As the VP of Wildfire Mitigation, his team is responsible for the overall direction of PG&E’s Wildfire Mitigation Strategy, including the filing of PG&E Wildfire Mitigation Plan. The work performed by his team guides both operational decision-making during fire season and long-term resiliency planning for PG&E. Andy also serves as the Chair of the Advisory Board for the Cal Poly Wildland Urban Interface – Fire Institute and is an Advisor to Watch Duty. 

Ben Allen

California State Senator
24th Senate District

  • Senator Ben Allen was elected in 2014 and now represents the 24th District covering the Westside, Hollywood, South Bay, and Santa Monica Mountains communities of LA County. Senator Allen chairs the Senate Budget Subcommittee #2 (Resources, Environmental Protection, and Energy) and serves as vice-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Arts, in addition to serving on standing committees focused on elections, energy and utilities, judiciary, and natural resources and water. An attorney and former school board member, Senator Allen has authored crucial legislation in the areas of economic development, environmental protection, climate change, green transit, educational equity, government transparency, insurance, and electoral reform. This includes authoring an expansive push to move California away from unsustainable single-use packaging, and a state general obligation bond measure to address the effects of climate change. He is a son of teachers and holds degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, and UC Berkeley. He and his wife Melanie have two children.

Christopher Anthony

Former Chief Deputy Director
CAL FIRE

  • Chris Anthony seeks to connect innovative technologies to the wildfire community to protect lives, strengthen communities, ensure resilient landscapes, and end the disastrous impacts of destructive wildfires. He served California as a Governor Appointee overseeing nearly all aspects of CAL FIRE's Fire Protection, Resource Management, Support, and Administrative functions as the Chief Deputy Director. In that role, he was responsible for implementing strategic initiatives and policies critical to operational readiness, wildfire resiliency, community preparedness, and the deployment of innovative technological advancements into day-to-day operations. Chris currently works across academic, non-profit, philanthropic and private sectors to accelerate pilot-to-scale pathways for wildfire technology adoption. He is a Senior Fellow at the UC San Diego Societal Computing and Innovation Lab, supports the Moore Foundation’s Wildfire Resilience Initiative through the Climate and Wildfire Institute, serves on the Boards of Earth Fire Alliance and California Fire Safe Council, seeks to connect innovation and technology to firefighters through FireWERX, and advises for several fire technology companies. Chris is a Registered Professional Forester, an honorably retired California Peace Officer, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Larry Bekkedahl

SVP, Strategy & Advanced Energy Delivery
Portland General Electric

  • Larry Bekkedahl is responsible for advancing PGE’s strategy to build the grid of the future — one that is resilient, smart, and delivers a clean energy future. He oversees PGE’s strategic system architecture and system upgrades, which will serve as the foundation for the smart grid of the future. This includes initiatives related to system integration and operations, smart cities, enabling distributed energy resources, energy storage, dispatchable standby generation, transmission system performance and development, market interfaces, as well as innovation, and R & D.

    Bekkedahl joined PGE in 2014 as vice president of Transmission & Distribution. He has more than four decades of leadership experience in the energy industry. Before joining PGE, he was senior vice president for transmission services at the Bonneville Power Administration and held leadership positions at Clark Public Utilities, PacifiCorp, and Montana Power Company.

Amy Berry

CEO
Tahoe Fund

  • Amy Berry is CEO of the nonprofit Tahoe Fund, where she directs private philanthropy to accelerate forest health and wildfire resilience in the Lake Tahoe Basin. She has raised over $30 million in private funding to leverage $200 million in public investment for 220+ projects, including innovative forest health pilots, watershed restoration, and sustainable recreation. Amy spearheaded creation of the Smartest Forest Fund, a philanthropic venture capital fund which has provided over $1 million in seed funding to innovative wildfire projects, from forest thinning to new technology, including the Fire Smart Pilots. She also serves as Vice-Chair of Nevada’s Outdoor Recreation Advisory Council. She graduated from Brown University where she was an All-American sailor.

Program Director,
Wildfire Resilience Initiative & Special Projects
Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation

Genny Biggs

  • As program director for wildfire and special projects, Genny leads the Wildfire Resilience Initiative and the foundation’s special opportunity grantmaking.

    Genny has more than 25 years of experience in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors. She joined the Moore Foundation in 2001. From 2005-2008, she earned master’s degrees in environmental management and international relations from Yale University, with a concentration on integrated conservation and development. Genny returned to Moore in 2008, having served during the intervening years as a summer associate in the David & Lucile Packard Foundation’s Conservation and Science Program and as a research fellow for the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Previously, Genny worked for National Geographic Magazine. She earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, with honors.

Bill Clerico

Founder & Managing Partner
Convective Capital

  • Based in San Francisco, Bill loves both the forests of Northern California and the creativity and pace of San Francisco. He started Convective because he believes resilience is the defining challenge of the next few decades — and that startups can build the tools that we need to thrive in an increasingly volatile world. Prior to Convective, Bill was co-founder & CEO of WePay, a fintech company that was acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase in 2017, an angel investor in over 60 startups and a part-time partner at Y Combinator.

Senator John Curtis

U.S. Senator
R - Utah

  • In the United States Senate, John R. Curtis proudly represents the citizens of Utah, embodying the pioneer values that shaped the state into an extraordinary place to live, work, and thrive.

    For Senator Curtis, results matter. Guided by America’s founding principles, he tackles tough issues with innovative approaches, inviting all to the higher ground of common ground. He believes that big ideas, innovation, and consensus can drive transformational change. Senator Curtis is dedicated to crafting principle-centered policies and achieving real results for Utah and America. He leads critical conversations, convenes thoughtful leaders, fosters inclusive collaboration, develops sustainable solutions, and provides a vision of what is possible.

    During his seven years representing Utah’s Third Congressional District, then Representative Curtis passed 21 pieces of legislation into law. His accomplishments include better public land management, combating human trafficking, reducing burdensome regulations on small businesses, and more. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus and was ranked by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking as the 9th most effective Republican member of Congress. In 2023, his office earned recognition as the best in Congress for constituent accountability and accessibility.

    Senator Curtis has built an international reputation for advancing American energy solutions that unleash U.S. clean fuels, strengthen the economy, enhance national security, ensure energy independence, and reduce global emissions simultaneously. He believes America must not only achieve energy independence but lead as an energy-dominant nation. Beyond energy, the Senator prioritizes strategic policies addressing China, fiscal responsibility, and solutions for broken social programs.

    Before his time in Congress, Senator Curtis was a small business owner and a proven problem solver. He served as Mayor of Provo City for eight years, earning a 94% approval rating and being named the “Top Elected Official on Social Media” in 2015. His leadership was recognized with awards such as the Silicon Slopes Community Hero, UVU’s Civic Innovator Award, and Utah Valley Magazine’s Person of the Year.

    Senator Curtis has been married to his wife, Sue, for 42 years. Together, they have six children and 17 grandchildren. Their family motto, “In Unity There is Strength,” continues to guide how he serves, works, and lives.

Brian Fennessy

Fire Chief
Orange County Fire Authority

  • As the Fire Chief of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), Brian Fennessy leads more than 1,800 firefighters and non-sworn personnel who collectively serve 2 million residents across 23 cities and unincorporated counties.

    Chief Fennessy began his career in 1978 with the USFS and BLM working as a hotshot crewmember and ultimately crew superintendent.

    In 1990, Fennessy joined the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and ultimately became Chief of the Department in 2015.  In 2018, he was appointed Fire Chief of the OCFA.

    Chief Fennessy currently serves as Chair of the FIRESCOPE Board of Directors; represents California as a member of the Western Fire Chiefs Association Wildland Fire Policy Committee; represents the nine West Division FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Task Forces; and President of the California Fire Chiefs Association.  In 2022, Chief Fennessy was recognized as CalChiefs Fire Chief of the Year and in 2023, the International Association of Fire Chief’s Career Fire Chief of the Year.

Danielle Feronti

Director, California Property Product Management
CSAA Insurance Group

  • Danielle Feronti is an accomplished insurance leader and strategist with extensive experience driving profitable growth and innovation across complex, highly regulated markets. At CSAA, a top-five carrier in the California property market, she leads strategy that advances wildfire mitigation and sustainable insurance practices. Previously, Danielle held leadership roles at Liberty Mutual/State Auto Insurance, managing commercial and personal portfolios and launching industry-leading telematics solutions, and at Safe Auto Insurance, where she built expertise in non-standard auto. She earned her degree in Business Administration and Management from The Ohio State University with honors, studied in Toledo, Spain, and enjoys yoga, beach volleyball, and live music.

Scott Gregory

Deputy Director of Technology
CAL FIRE

  • Scott Gregory is the Deputy Director of Technology for CAL FIRE. He currently directs the technology, telecommunications, and innovation portfolio for the organization. His extensive background spans over 25 years, including leadership roles in government and private industry. Prior to joining CAL FIRE, Gregory served as the first Chief Innovation Officer for the State of California, where he pioneered numerous firsts in California's tech landscape, including the state's first open data platform, the creation of the State of California Innovation Academy and the state’s innovation lab. He also played a significant role in creating California’s statewide GIS infrastructure as the State Geographic Information Officer. Gregory holds a BA in Geography from Sacramento State University and an MBA from Regis University.

Toby Hardman

Executive Vice President
Gallagher RE

  • Toby Hardman is Executive Vice President and Head of Sales for Gallagher Re North America. He leads business development and client relationships across the region, with a particular focus on supporting some of the largest and fastest-growing wildfire insurers. Toby brings deep expertise in portfolio and capital optimization, structuring solutions that trade into traditional reinsurance, insurance-linked securities, and carrier partnerships. He has a comprehensive understanding of wildfire risk—how insurers are managing the peril on the ground and how the capital markets view and respond to this evolving challenge.

Rebecca Harned

Senior Scientist, Fire Risk
UL Fire Safety Research Institute

  • Rebecca Harned possesses over 20 years working at the intersection of technology, science, and policy for disaster risk reduction. Her greatest passion is working with progressive leaders at the bleeding edge in developing and implementing science and technology with the goal of strengthening local resilience to fire and flood in the US and globally. She serves as a Principal Research Scientist with the UL Fire Safety Research Institute where she is focused on developing a comprehensive National Fire Risk solution that provides a consistent framework to measure various types of fire risks at the local level, on a nationwide scale. Rebecca most recently served as the Advisor on technology and data modernization to the US Fire Administration (USFA) within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Previously, she served in various Senior leadership and management capacities within the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), FEMA, the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, amongst other organizations.

Kat Mañalac

Partner
Convective Capital

  • Kat is a partner at Convective where she leads platform & community. She builds resources and programs that connect founders, investors, the fire service, utilities, and governments around a shared mission of using technology to solve urgent challenges. She also drives Convective’s storytelling, highlighting how tech is helping communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

    Previously, Kat spent more than a decade as a partner at Y Combinator, where she helped thousands of founders scale their startups into companies worth billions.

Anthony C. Marrone

Fire Chief
County of Los Angeles Fire Department

  • Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone has been a member of the County of Los Angeles Fire Department for 39 years and a chief officer for the past 27 years. Prior to his appointment by the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors as the tenth Fire Chief and Forester and Fire Warden, Chief Marrone served as the Interim Fire Chief.

    Chief Marrone leads one of the largest metropolitan emergency services agencies in the United States, providing traditional fire and life safety services to more than 4.1 million residents and commercial business customers in 60 cities served by the Department, in addition to 120 unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County within its 2,311 square-mile jurisdiction. The Department operates out of 176 fire stations, with more than 5,200 emergency responders and business professionals operating with an annual budget of just over $1.8 billion. In addition, the Department provides lifeguard, air and wildland, hazardous materials, homeland security, health hazardous materials, forestry, and urban search and rescue services throughout the County. The Department’s urban search and rescue team, known internationally as USA-2, is one of only two highly specialized teams available for international disaster response through a cooperative agreement with the State Department.

Paul McGregor

VP, Wildfire Risk
Xcel Energy

  • Paul is an accomplished executive and management consultant with expertise in Power and Utilities operations across Generation, Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Trading. In recent years he has focused his expertise on Wildfire Risk Management and Regulatory Strategy. He has held leadership roles with Xcel Energy, PG&E, Southern California Edison, Duquesne Light Company, and IHI Power Services; as well as serving the clients of Deloitte, EY, and KPMG. Paul began his career with Scottish Power; and earned a bachelor’s in Technology and Business Studies from the University of Strathclyde, and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell

Former U.S. Fire Administrator & Executive Leadership Advisor/Public Safety Advocate

  • Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell is a Doctor of Public Health and data scientist who was appointed by President Biden to serve as the U.S. Fire Administrator from 2021 to 2025. Prior to her appointment, Lori was the President and CEO of the International Public Safety Data Institute (IPSDI), which she founded after retiring from a 26-year career as a senior executive at the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). 

    During her tenure as the U.S. Fire Administrator, Lori co-chaired the Commission on Wildfire Mitigation and Management, established by the bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, leading to 148 wildfire-related recommendations being delivered to Congress in 2023.

    Dr. Merrell also convened a National Fire Summit and a World Fire Congress, bringing together global leaders from 56 nations to address firefighter recruitment, firefighter cancer, mental health, fire risks associated with emerging technology, and climate change impact on the fire service.  This collaborative effort became known as the #FireServiceOneVoice movement. Dr. Moore-Merrell believes that together, we can turn a crisis into an era of opportunity for the fire service and beyond.

Dan Munsey

Fire Chief/Fire Warden
San Bernardino County Fire

  • Chief Munsey is the current Fire Chief/Fire Warden of the San Bernardino county Fire Protection District, a District that is recognized worldwide for innovation and adoption of public safety technology. He is the current president of the California Metro Fire Chief Association, a Member on the FIRESCOPE board of Directors, and the immediate Past-President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.  Chief Munsey is widely consulted by members of Congress and allied agencies for his expertise in innovation, technology, and wildfire.

Senator Alex Padilla

U.S. Senator
D - California

  • Senator Alex Padilla, a progressive problem-solver, is the first Latino elected to represent California in the U.S. Senate. The son of immigrants, Padilla grew up in the San Fernando Valley and studied Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was drawn to politics in response to California’s anti-immigrant Proposition 187. Padilla was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1999 and the State Senate in 2006. As California’s Secretary of State, he oversaw a historic expansion of voting rights and voter participation. As United States Senator, Padilla has taken action to cut costs for families, combat the climate crisis, and help thousands of Californians secure millions of dollars owed to them by federal agencies. Padilla currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety. He is a member of the Senate Committees on Budget; Environment and Public Works; Energy and Natural Resources; Judiciary; and Rules. Padilla lives in the San Fernando Valley with his wife, Angela, and their three sons, Roman, Alex and Diego.

Bob Roper

Wildfire Policy Consultant
Roper Consulting

  • Bob has been in the fire service for over 45 years starting as a volunteer firefighter, then rising to executive positions. He served in the Ventura County Fire District for 34 years, the last 15 as Fire Chief, and then became the Nevada State Forester.

    During his career, Bob became focused on the wildland fire problem due to its dynamic nature and challenges. He is now the Policy Advisor to the Western Fire Chief’s Association and serves on the Congressional Wildland Fire Management and Mitigation Commission.

Dan Preston

CEO
Stand

  • Dan was most recently the CEO at Metromile (trading as MILE on NASDAQ and later acquired by Lemonade), a leading digital auto insurer offering per-mile insurance built using sensor data and machine learning from the ground up. Prior to Metromile, he was the co-founder and CTO at AisleBuyer, a mobile retail innovator that was acquired by Intuit in April 2012. Dan received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Brandeis University and a master’s degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Machine Learning from Stanford University, with publications across astrophysics, computer vision, and remote sensing.

Bob Rowe

Former CEO
NorthWestern Energy

  • Bob Rowe served as CEO of NorthWestern Energy from August 2008 until retiring in January 2023.  

    Bob is a Venture Partner with The Westly Group and a Senior Advisor to Guggenheim Partners.

    He chairs the American Gas Foundation Board; is a member of the EEI Institute for Energy Transition Advisory Committee; the EEI Global Executive Leadership Network; and is a Senior Fellow at the University of Florida Public Utility Research Center. Bob serves on multiple non-profit boards, including Yellowstone Forever, the non-profit partner of Yellowstone National Park; the University of Montana Foundation Board of Trustees; and, the Lewis & Clark College Board of Trustees.

    Earlier in his career, Bob was a Montana Public Service Commissioner and President of the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners.  Before that, he was a public interest attorney.

Michael Wara

Director of Policy, Sustainability Accelerator
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

  • Michael Wara is Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment as well as Senior Director of Policy at the Sustainability Accelerator in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Wara runs a multidisciplinary team of lawyers, data scientists, economists and public health experts focused on three topical areas: environmental justice, the energy transition, and wildfire. He conducts partner engaged research with a wide array of stakeholders aimed at developing solutions to climate and energy challenges. His team also develops and provides neutral analysis to support sound policy making across the domains in which they work. Wara has served in a variety of roles for the state of California including as a Wildfire Commissioner, as a member of the California Catastrophe Response Council, and as an advisor to the California Senate, Public Utilities Commission, and the Office of Electric Infrastructure Safety. Wara has a JD from Stanford Law School and a PhD in Ocean Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Matt Weiner

Co-founder & CEO
Megafire Action

  • Matt Weiner is the Co-Founder & CEO of Megafire Action. Matt possesses 15 years experience advising Members of Congress and the California State Legislature. He is the former Executive Director of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation, where he advised Chair Zoe Lofgren, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and 42 Members of Congress on California statewide policy matters including wildfire. He served as Chief of Staff to California State Senator Henry Stern during the Thomas and Woolsey Fires and was the Climate and Environment advisor to former Congressman Henry A. Waxman.

PAST SPEAKERS

Christopher Anthony

Former Chief Deputy Director
CAL FIRE

  • Chris Anthony served California as a Governor Appointee, overseeing CAL FIRE's Fire Protection, Resource Management, Support, and Administrative functions as the Chief Deputy Director. He was responsible for the implementation of strategic initiatives and policies critical to ensuring operational readiness, wildfire resiliency, and the incorporation of innovative technological advancements into day-to-day operations. He currently consults for firetech companies, academia, nonprofits, and philanthropic organizations. He serves on the Boards of Earth Fire Alliance, California Fire Safe Council, and the Moore Foundation Wildfire Advisory Council.

Sasha Berelman, Ph.D

Director, Fire Forward
Audubon Canyon Ranch

  • Sasha is working to lead a change in the way we live with fire in the Bay Area. With her team at Audubon Canyon Ranch's Fire Forward Program, Sasha plans and leads cooperatively controlled burns and trains emerging leaders in prescribed fire management. Sasha earned her doctorate in wildland fire science from the University of California at Berkeley focusing on prescribed fire use for restoration of ecosystem health. She is a Prescribed Fire Burn Boss and a Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) coach and leader. Sasha is a board member of American Wildfire Experience.

Genny Biggs

Program Director,
Wildfire Resilience Initiative & Special Projects
Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation

  • As program director for wildfire and special projects, Genny leads the Wildfire Resilience Initiative and the foundation’s special opportunity grantmaking.

    Genny has more than 25 years of experience in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors. She joined the Moore Foundation in 2001. From 2005-2008, she earned master’s degrees in environmental management and international relations from Yale University, with a concentration on integrated conservation and development. Genny returned to Moore in 2008, having served during the intervening years as a summer associate in the David & Lucile Packard Foundation’s Conservation and Science Program and as a research fellow for the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Previously, Genny worked for National Geographic Magazine. She earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, with honors.

Zac Bookman

Co-Founder & CEO
OpenGov

  • Zachary Bookman is the Co-founder and CEO of OpenGov, the GovTech cloud software leader. With a mission to power more effective and accountable government, OpenGov serves more than 1900 cities, counties, state agencies, school districts, and special districts across the United States.

    Before co-founding OpenGov, Zac served as Advisor to U.S. Army General H.R. McMaster on the Anti‑Corruption Task Force at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. He previously practiced trial litigation at Keker, Van Nest & Peters in San Francisco, and served as law clerk to the Honorable Sandra S. Ikuta on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

    Zac studied transparency and corruption in Mexico as a Fulbright Fellow. He holds a JD from Yale Law School, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, and graduated valedictorian from the University of Maryland. Zac serves on the board of Mt. Tamalpais College and the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution, and he is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Jason Brooks

Co-founder & CEO
Fire Aside

  • Jason is the Co-founder and CEO of Fire Aside. Fire Aside is a leader in providing solutions to fire agencies, fire safe councils, and HOAs to help their communities adapt to wildfire. Fire Asides platform provides the tools for defensible space and home hardening evaluations which is now used in 4 states. This past fire season they supported over 3,200 evaluations a week and helped communities remove 175,000 cubic yards of high risk vegetation near structures.

Bill Clerico

Founder & Managing Partner
Convective Capital

  • Based in San Francisco, Bill loves both the forests of Northern California and the creativity and pace of San Francisco. He started Convective because he believes resilience is the defining challenge of the next few decades — and that startups can build the tools that we need to thrive in an increasingly volatile world. Prior to Convective, Bill was co-founder & CEO of WePay, a fintech company that was acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase in 2017, an angel investor in over 60 startups and a part-time partner at Y Combinator.

John Collison

Co-founder & President
Stripe

  • John Collison is President and Co-founder of Stripe, the software company that is expanding internet commerce by making it easy to process transactions from anywhere.

    John and his brother Patrick Collison started Stripe in 2010 while John was studying physics at Harvard. Their goal was to make accepting payments online simpler and more inclusive, after learning firsthand how difficult it was. Today, the 7,000 person Stripe team powers online businesses around the world.

    Prior to Stripe, John co-founded Auctomatic, which was acquired by Live Current Media in March 2008.

Dan Cotter

Executive Director,
Office of Science & Engineering
US Department of Homeland Security

  • Dan Cotter serves as Executive Director, Office of Science and Engineering in the Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In this role, he leads the advancement of science and technology to support the homeland security mission, including overseeing technology centers, requirements generation, standards, systems engineering, test and evaluation, and support to DHS research and acquisition programs. In 2018, Dan received the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive. Dan holds an M.B.A. from Texas A&M University, a M.S. in Geographic and Cartographic Sciences from George Mason University, and a B.S in Hydrology from the University of Arizona.

Kate Dargan Marquis

Sr. Wildfire Advisor
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

  • Kate Dargan Marquis currently works on wildfire resiliency strategy through many pathways and institutions. She advises the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, she most recently worked for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as Assistant Director for Preparedness and Response and serves as Board Director and Chief Strategy Officer for Intterra, a wildfire and public safety software company she co-founded in 2010. She is also a longtime Board member and past Co-Chair of the CA Fire Safe Council. Prior to her advocacy phase, Kate was a pioneering California firefighter/chief for 30 years, the first woman State Fire Marshal for California, and a proud Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate. She has worked at the community, public agency, industry, technology, and policy levels of the National Fire Service and is widely recognized for her consensus-building style and innovative approaches to old problems.

Dr. Tim Doggett

SVP, Director of Atmospheric Perils
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

  • Tim has more than twenty years of experience in natural catastrophe risk assessment and is currently responsible for leading risk management assessment projects for perils related to hurricanes, convective storms, and wildfires. He leads a team that develops models and tools for integrating catastrophe analytics into the insurance underwriting workflow, performs catastrophe risk evaluations (including evaluating climate change impacts), and provides real-time risk assessment of impacts from ongoing natural disasters.

Brian Fennessy

Fire Chief
Orange County Fire Authority

  • As the Fire Chief of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), Brian Fennessy leads more than 1,800 firefighters and non-sworn personnel who collectively serve 2 million residents across 23 cities and unincorporated counties.

    Chief Fennessy began his career in 1978 with the USFS and BLM working as a hotshot crewmember and ultimately crew superintendent.

    In 1990, Fennessy joined the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and ultimately became Chief of the Department in 2015.  In 2018, he was appointed Fire Chief of the OCFA.

    Chief Fennessy currently serves as Chair of the FIRESCOPE Board of Directors; represents California as a member of the Western Fire Chiefs Association Wildland Fire Policy Committee; represents the nine West Division FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Task Forces; and President of the California Fire Chiefs Association.  In 2022, Chief Fennessy was recognized as CalChiefs Fire Chief of the Year and in 2023, the International Association of Fire Chief’s Career Fire Chief of the Year.

Meryl Harrell

Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources & Environment
USDA

  • Meryl Harrell is the Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), where she works closely with the USDA Forest Service. Harrell previously served in NRE for eight years during the Obama-Biden Administration, including serving as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary.

    Prior to returning to USDA, Harrell served as the Executive Director of the Southern

    Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS) and founded a consulting practice advising non-profit organizations, foundations, and government agencies working to conserve and manage public lands, address wildfire risk, build social and economic opportunity through outdoor recreation, and increase equitable access to careers in conservation. Harrell previously worked on public lands issues at The Wilderness Society in Washington, D.C.

    Harrell received her J.D. from the Yale Law School and her undergraduate degree in geoscience and environmental studies from Princeton University. She can often be found hiking on trails in our national forests with her family.

Elaine Hungenberg

Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Impact
XPRIZE

  • Elaine Hungenberg is the Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Impact at XPRIZE, where she leads transformative initiatives to address humanity's greatest challenges. She is on the leadership team of the $11M, four-year global competition to end destructive wildfires, leveraging innovative partnerships to drive real-world solutions.  Known for her strategic vision and expertise in impact evaluation, Elaine cultivates ecosystems of diverse stakeholders—from corporate partners to government and community leaders—to drive systemic change through cutting-edge solutions. Previously, she served as Executive Vice President at Operation HOPE, where she led the HOPE Research and Impact Institute, focusing on solutions for financial equity. With over 15 years of experience in strategy, impact evaluation, and go-to-market strategies, Elaine’s career is rooted in creating positive change.

Pascal Karsenti

Director of Research & Technology
Nephila

  • Pascal is Director of Research and Technology for Nephila, an investment manager focused on insurance-linked strategies and sustainable climate solutions. He conducts original catastrophe research and develops proprietary analytics and modeling to enhance Nephila’s underwriting and risk management. Pascal also evaluates insurtech opportunities, contributes to portfolio construction, and leads key initiatives on climate change and sustainability. Pascal joined Nephila in 2011 from catastrophe modeling firm Verisk Extreme Event Solutions, where he led risk assessment for catastrophe bond issuances.

Sonia Kastner

Co-founder & CEO
Pano AI

  • Sonia Kastner is the CEO and Co-founder of Pano AI, the leader in early wildfire detection. Previously, Sonia spent over ten years building and leading supply chain and manufacturing organizations within fast-growing, mission-driven start-ups. Her global leadership experience spans Nest Thermostats, multiple solar energy companies, and extensive consulting across the IoT ecosystem. Prior to starting her career in technology, she worked in economic development for New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Jennee Kuang

Senior Program Officer
Resources Legacy Fund

  • Jennee Kuang is a Senior Program Officer at RLF and co-leads the organization’s wildfire resilience program. The program focuses on public policy and funding solutions to accelerate wildfire resilience in the Western U.S. Before coming to RLF, Jennee was an Environment Program Fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where she developed the foundation’s wildfire resilience grantmaking strategy. Earlier in her career, Jennee served as special assistant to the Chief Innovation Officer of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She holds a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and a Master of Public Policy from UC Berkeley.

Anukool Lakhina

Co-founder & CEO
BurnBot

  • Anukool Lakhina is the Co-founder & CEO of BurnBot. Prior to BurnBot, Anukool was the Founder & CEO of data analytics company Guavus which was acquired by Thales in 2017. Since 2017, Anukool has been focused on solutions to the wildfire crisis. In addition to BurnBot, Anukool and his wife run Wonder Labs, a social enterprise that provides philanthropic support to communities on the front-line of wildfire impacts. Anukool is also a Partner at Convective Capital, a venture capital fund supporting entrepreneurs tackling the wildfire crisis. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Boston University.

Jeff Marsolais

Associate Deputy Chief for Fire –
State, Private, & Tribal Forestry
US Forest Service

  • Jeff serves as the Associate Deputy Chief of State, Private, and Tribal Forestry and oversees Fire and Aviation for the forest Service. With more than 28 years of career experience in the Forest Service, Jeff has a wealth of experience in forestry, fire, recreation, and public services. Prior to his move to this position in the Washington Office, he served for 2 years as Forest Supervisor of the Eldorado National Forest and

    prior to that was the Forest Supervisor in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Recent Acting assignments have included National Director for Recreation, Heritage, and Volunteer Resources and Deputy Regional Forester in the Pacific Southwest Region. Marsolais has worked for the Forest Service since the early 1990s and has served on 7 different National Forests in California and Nevada in positions ranging from Deputy Forest Supervisor to Fire Fighter 1 on an Engine. Prior to his work with the Forest Service, he spent time with the Bureau of Land Management and with CalFire in Northern California. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources and Recreation Planning and a Master of Science in Natural Resources from Humboldt State University.

John Mills

CEO
Watch Duty

  • John has changed the way we live with fire through his 501c3 non-profit organization Watch Duty. John spent many years in Silicon Valley focusing on underserved markets that had been overlooked by technologists. In 2012 he founded Zenput as CTO, focused on retail food services operations which was acquired in 2022. After living in San Francisco for 16 years, he moved off-the-grid to Sonoma County in 2020 where he was faced with the terrifying reality of life in the wildlands without the information needed to make informed decisions.  Having developed software for over 30 years beginning at age 8, John found himself with a life or death problem he had to solve not only for himself, but for his community. He spent more than a year understanding the problems and then together, with his team, created Watch Duty in just 80 days. Today Watch Duty has a team of over 150 active and retired wildland firefighters, dispatchers, first responders, and reporters supporting millions of citizens and first responders who rely on the Watch Duty App across the American West to stay safe.

Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, DrPH, MPH

Former U.S. Fire Administrator & Executive Leadership Advisor/Public Safety Advocate

  • Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell is a Doctor of Public Health and data scientist who was appointed by President Biden to serve as the U.S. Fire Administrator from 2021 to 2025. Prior to her appointment, Lori was the President and CEO of the International Public Safety Data Institute (IPSDI), which she founded after retiring from a 26-year career as a senior executive at the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). 

    During her tenure as the U.S. Fire Administrator, Lori co-chaired the Commission on Wildfire Mitigation and Management, established by the bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, leading to 148 wildfire-related recommendations being delivered to Congress in 2023.

    Dr. Merrell also convened a National Fire Summit and a World Fire Congress, bringing together global leaders from 56 nations to address firefighter recruitment, firefighter cancer, mental health, fire risks associated with emerging technology, and climate change impact on the fire service.  This collaborative effort became known as the #FireServiceOneVoice movement. Dr. Moore-Merrell believes that together, we can turn a crisis into an era of opportunity for the fire service and beyond.

Jay Ribakove

Principal
Convective Capital

  • Jay joined the Convective Capital team as a Principal in 2024. He’s focused on partnering with founders who are relentless about achieving their goals and protecting our environment from natural disasters.

    Prior to Convective, Jay was an investor at Munich Re Ventures, backing companies reducing risk in climate and the built environment. He is also a girl dad, recovering software engineer, and aspiring ski instructor.

Bob Roper

Wildfire Policy Consultant
Roper Consulting

  • Bob has been in the fire service for over 45 years starting as a volunteer firefighter, then rising to executive positions. He served in the Ventura County Fire District for 34 years, the last 15 as Fire Chief, and then became the Nevada State Forester.

    During his career, Bob became focused on the wildland fire problem due to its dynamic nature and challenges. He is now the Policy Advisor to the Western Fire Chief’s Association and serves on the Congressional Wildland Fire Management and Mitigation Commission.

Sumeet Singh

Executive Vice President, Operations & COO
PG&E

  • Sumeet Singh is Executive Vice President, Operations and Chief Operating Officer of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

    He is responsible for the utility’s operations that includes Electric Operations, Gas Operations, Nuclear Generation, Power Generation, Enterprise Health & Safety, Vegetation Management, and Wildfire, Emergency & Operations.

    Singh previously served as Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Officer and Chief Safety Officer, overseeing the company's integrated workforce health and safety strategy, its safety culture, and management of both operational risks such as wildfires, nuclear, dams, natural gas, natural disasters and non-operational risks such as cybersecurity, pandemic and others.

    Singh has held a number of other leadership roles within PG&E, including as Vice President, Asset Management and Community Wildfire Safety Program; Vice President of Portfolio Management & Engineering in PG&E's Gas Operations, and Vice President, Asset & Risk Management in PG&E's Gas Operations. Joining PG&E in 2000 as an engineer, Singh worked in various natural gas distribution and transmission engineering roles, as well as in the Finance and Energy Procurement functions.

    Singh has also served as the Gas Safety and Integrity Officer at Picarro Inc., leading a global organization focused on the growth of an innovative technology based on hardware-enabled analytics informing asset management solutions to drive a safer and cleaner natural gas system by improving the overall risk spend efficiency.

Joe Tyler

Director, Fire Chief
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
CAL FIRE

  • Chief Tyler began his career with CAL FIRE in 1990 as a Fire Fighter in the Shasta Trinity Unit. Since then, he has worked in the Riverside Unit, Amador El Dorado Unit, and Statewide Training Program in various operational classifications in Schedule A and Schedule B, including fire stations, training bureaus and programs, camps, safety programs, and as an Administrative Officer and Staff Chief. Prior to his appointment to Deputy Director, Chief Tyler served as the Assistant Deputy Director of Fire Protection with oversight of Law Enforcement/Civil Cost Recovery, Fire Protection Operations, Aviation Management, Tactical Air Operations, and Mobile Equipment. In addition to those programs referenced just prior, he now also oversees Training, Safety, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Local/State/Federal Programs, and Hand Crew Programs.

    Chief Tyler serves as the Department representative on the California Wildland Coordinating Group, National Association of State Forester’s Wildland Fire Committee, Western States Fire Managers and has served on several Statewide committees and cadres, most recently leading a work group in the acquisition of a new fleet of helicopters and C-130 air tankers. He is qualified as an Agency Administrator, Incident Commander – Type 1, Safety Officer, and an Operations Section Chief. He was a member of CAL FIRE Incident Management Teams from 2005 through 2014, last holding the position of Deputy Incident Commander on CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 3 until his promotion to Staff Chief.

Michael Wara

Director of Policy, Sustainability Accelerator
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

  • Michael Wara is Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment as well as Senior Director of Policy at the Sustainability Accelerator in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Wara runs a multidisciplinary team of lawyers, data scientists, economists and public health experts focused on three topical areas: environmental justice, the energy transition, and wildfire. He conducts partner engaged research with a wide array of stakeholders aimed at developing solutions to climate and energy challenges. His team also develops and provides neutral analysis to support sound policy making across the domains in which they work. Wara has served in a variety of roles for the state of California including as a Wildfire Commissioner, as a member of the California Catastrophe Response Council, and as an advisor to the California Senate, Public Utilities Commission, and the Office of Electric Infrastructure Safety. Wara has a JD from Stanford Law School and a PhD in Ocean Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Nancy Watkins

Principal & Consulting Actuary
Milliman

  • Nancy Watkins is a principal in Milliman's San Francisco office. Widely known as a thought leader in property insurance availability and affordability, Nancy serves insurers, regulators, community/government entities, tech vendors and NGOs seeking expertise and innovation in addressing catastrophic risk. 

    Nancy leads the global Milliman Climate Resilience Initiative, designated 2024 Climate Consultancy of the Year by InsuranceERM.  She served on the CAL FIRE Risk Modeling Advisory Workgroup, currently serves on the Private Market Insights Advisory group for nonprofit Insurance For Good, and was recently appointed by the U.S. Treasury Financial Stability Oversight Council as a member of its Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee. 

David Winnacker

Fire Chief
Moraga-Orinda Fire District (MOFD)

  • Dave Winnacker has been in the fire service for 21 years and has served as chief of the Moraga-Orinda Fire District since 2017. He is the California Director of the Western Fire Chiefs Association and heads the California Fire Chiefs Association WUI Task Force. He served on the Wildfire Mitigation Modeling Workgroup and is a member of the Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee. Before joining the fire service, he served in the Marine Corps as an active-duty infantry officer and has remained in the reserves, serving as the Commanding Officer 4th Force Reconnaissance Company from 2014–16, Deputy Commander 23d Marine Regiment from 2019 to 2022, and Chief of Staff Marine Innovation Unit from 2022-2024. At Stanford University he is a Hoover Institution Veteran Fellow working on market-based incentive structures at the intersection of wildfire and insurance. In the private sector, he is a co-founder of XyloPlan Risk, a risk visualization and mitigation prioritization provider.