2026 SPEAKERS

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

  • 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

  • Senator John R. Curtis proudly represents Utah in the United States Senate. A former mayor and congressman, he is known for advancing consensus-driven policies and promoting commonsense, conservative leadership.

    During his seven years representing Utah’s Third Congressional District, Curtis passed 28 pieces of legislation into law. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus and was ranked by the nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking as the fifth most effective Republican member of Congress. In the Senate, he has maintained that legislative momentum, introducing targeted measures to accelerate energy innovation, promote fiscal responsibility, fix broken social programs, streamline federal permitting, and address global threats from foreign adversaries.

    Before his time on Capitol Hill, he was a small business owner and a proven problem solver. As Mayor of Provo City for eight years, he earned a 94% approval rating and earned numerous accolades, including the Silicon Slopes Community Hero award, UVU’s Civic Innovator Award, and Utah Valley Magazine’s Person of the Year.

    He and his wife, Sue, have been married for 43 years. They have six children and 18 grandchildren.

Alex Dehgan

South America Fire Fund Lead, Renaissance Philanthropy & CEO
Conservation X Labs

  • Dr. Alex Dehgan is the CEO and Co-founder of Conservation X Labs, which harnesses innovation and creates technologies to prevent the 6th Mass Extinction. Alex previously served as the Chief Scientist of USAID where he created the Agency’s “DARPA for Development”. Conservation X Labs has helped build the field of Naturetech, supporting over 177 breakthroughs on six continents, which have gone on to raise $577 million.  Alex is also Professor of the Practice of Sustainability at Arizona State University, where he helped design the new School of Conservation Futures.  Alex was the founding country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Afghanistan Program and helped create Afghanistan’s first national park.  Alex is the author of The Snow Leopard Project, winner of the Gold 2020 Nautilus Book Prize.

Brian Fennessy

Director
U.S. Wildland Fire Service

  • Brian Fennessy is the inaugural Director of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS), a newly established agency within the Department of the Interior tasked with unifying and modernizing federal wildland fire management programs.

    With nearly five decades of experience in fire service leadership, Fennessy began his career in the late 1970s on elite federal hotshot crews under the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management as a crew superintendent before joining the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department in 1990, where he became Fire Chief in 2015.

    In 2018, Fennessy assumed leadership of the Orange County Fire Authority, one of California’s largest fire departments, where he championed aviation programs, technology integration, and mission-driven culture initiatives.

    Since 2019, Fennessy served as Chair of the FIRESCOPE Board of Directors.  In 2023, he was named the International Fire Chiefs Association (IAFC) 2023 Career Fire Chief of the Year and California Fire Chiefs Association (CalChiefs) Fire Chief of the year.  Prior to accepting the DOI USWFS/Fire Chief position, he served as the President of the California Fire Chiefs Association.

    As Director of USWFS, Fennessy oversees efforts to streamline decision-making, strengthen interagency coordination, and enhance wildfire response capabilities nationwide.  His appointment reflects a commitment to operational excellence, firefighter safety, and community resilience during an era of increasingly severe wildfire seasons.

Ian Goulding

Wildfire Program Manager
Sergey Brin Family Foundation

  • Ian Goulding is the Wildfire Program Manager at the Sergey Brin Family Foundation. His work focuses on supporting organizations that advance public policy, science, and technology solutions to mitigate loss of life, property damage, and climate impacts caused by the wildfire crisis. In his role, he also serves as a board observer advising multiple wildfire nonprofit partners. 

    Earlier in his career, Ian was a strategy consultant in Deloitte's San Francisco office. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

J. Kevin Hiers

Program Manager, Resource Conservation & Resilience
SERDP & ESTCP, U.S. Department of War

  • Kevin serves as the Department of War Program Manager for the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), where he oversees science and technology investments in the areas of Natural Hazards Adaptation and Resource Management. He leads a portfolio of more than 120 projects advancing wildland fire management, coastal hazard adaptation, severe weather, environmental security, and ecosystem management across installations in the United States and Pacific Islands.

    Working across government, academia, industry, and nonprofit organizations, Kevin leads efforts to identify emerging technologies and research priorities that strengthen national resilience and improve natural resource management on installations and adjacent partners lands. He also coordinates closely within the Offices under the Assistant Secretary of War for Energy Installations and the Environment on wildland fire initiatives and natural hazards adaptation.

    Kevin brings over 30 years of experience spanning fire ecology, prescribed fire, ecosystem management, and wildland fire science. Prior to his current role, he held leadership positions with the U.S. Geological Survey, The Nature Conservancy, Eglin Air Force Base, Tall Timbers Research Station, and the Air Force Civil Engineering Center.

Kat Mañalac

Partner
Convective

  • 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.

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.

Scott Peters

Congressman
California’s 50th District

  • Congressman Scott Peters serves California’s 50th Congressional District, which includes the cities of Coronado, San Marcos, Escondido and coastal San Diego. First elected in 2012, he currently serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Budget Committee. 

    Scott Peters is a civic leader who has made improving the quality of life in San Diego his life’s work since serving on the San Diego City Council. As a Member of Congress, Scott focuses on advancing practical and critical climate policies, promoting and expanding San Diego’s innovation ecosystem, advocating for San Diego’s pivotal role as a partner in the national defense, and making government work. Ranked the 4th most independent Democrat in Congress by the National Journal, Scott Peters understands that problems have bipartisan solutions, and is never afraid to work across party lines to get things done.

Mark Quinlan

SVP, Wildfire, Emergency & Operations and Chief Safety Officer
PG&E

  • Mark Quinlan is the Senior Vice President of Wildfire, Emergency & Operations and Chief Safety Officer for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). In these combined roles, he leads PG&E’s safe and reliable operation of the electric grid, workforce and operational safety, emergency preparedness and response, and wildfire risk reduction strategy.

    Quinlan is focused on the prevention of safety incidents through strengthening PG&E’s safety culture, education and strong leadership while also advancing public safety and operational grid resilience. His portfolio includes the operation of PG&E’s transmission and distribution grids, emergency preparedness and response, PG&E’s safety programs, oversight of PG&E’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan and key operational wildfire mitigations, including Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) and Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS). He serves as Officer in Charge for major wildfires, severe weather, earthquake, capacity shortfall, pandemic and every PSPS that PG&E has executed.

    Quinlan brings more than 35 years of electric utility experience spanning system operations, safety, human performance, emergency management and organizational transformation.

Jay Ribakove

Principal
Convective

  • 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.

Brendan Rogers

Senior Scientist
Woodwell Climate Research Center

  • Dr. Brendan Rogers studies the vast expanses of boreal forests and Arctic tundra across Earth’s northern high latitudes. Brendan’s work focuses on northern wildfires and their impacts on permafrost, climate feedbacks, and Arctic residents. He combines field measurements, satellite remote sensing, and modeling techniques to understand the changing environment and to co-develop solutions to inform natural resource management and climate policy. Brendan acts as a member and leader of working groups, steering committees, science teams, and editorial groups focused on Earth’s rapidly changing high-latitudes. He helps lead the Permafrost Pathways and North Fire initiatives focused on solutions to accelerating northern wildfires and permafrost thaw. Brendan engages a range of practitioners and rights-holders, from community members and fire managers to international policy makers, in exploring the societal ramifications of his work.

Senator Tim Sheehy

U.S. Senator
R - Montana

  • Tim Sheehy is proud to serve as Montana’s Junior United States Senator, continuing his life of service to the nation. He is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, combat veteran, husband, and father of four.

    A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Tim served as a Navy SEAL Officer and Team Leader, completing several deployments and hundreds of missions. He was twice decorated for Valor in Combat.

    After leaving active duty in 2014, Tim started his businesses with the vision of bringing the technological capabilities he observed during his military service to the civilian world to better protect Americans from public safety threats like wildfires.

    Tim founded Bridger Aerospace with an all-veteran founding team and served as a line pilot, flying as a carded Air Attack and Water Bomber pilot across the American West for over a decade. He also cofounded the Montana Firefighters Fund to support the families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters.

Bob Valliere

Executive Vice President & COO
CSAA

  • Bob Valliere is executive vice president and Chief Operations Officer for CSAA Insurance Group, where he leads the claims, front line underwriting, service and process and performance teams. With decades of insurance‑industry experience, he has held several key leadership roles within AAA and CSAA Insurance Group, including vice president of policyholder service, where he became known for developing strong leaders and championing customer‑service excellence.  Before joining CSAA Insurance Group in 2004, Mr. Valliere served as senior assistant vice president in Amica Mutual Insurance Company’s claims executive department. His extensive background spans claims, policyholder service, underwriting, sales, training, technology transformations and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Valliere serves on the executive leadership committee for the Insurance Information Institute and serves as the co-chair of the California advisory board for The Trust for Public Land. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Connecticut.

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.