General Session Speakers

Amy Bowers Cordalis is a mother, fisherwoman, attorney, and member and former General Counsel of the Yurok Nation—the largest Indigenous Nation in California. She is currently the executive director of the Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group, a nonprofit advancing Indigenous sovereignty through the protection of cultural and natural resources, including the undamming of the Klamath River. She is the recipient of the UN’s highest environmental honor, Champions of the Earth Laureate, and has been named to the second annual TIME100 Climate List (2024), featuring the one hundred most influential leaders driving business to real climate action. She has been named as a 2026 Jordan Schnitzer Prize of the West Finalist by The High Desert Museum. She is the author of The Water Remembers (Hachette, 2025).

Heidi Rahn has served as Zoo Director since 2021, bringing a strong commitment to conservation, sustainability, and innovation in animal care. Previously, she worked at the zoo from 2013 to 2018, leading the implementation of Metro’s $125 million zoo bond program and overseeing the development of several signature exhibits, including Condors of the Columbia, Primate Forest, Polar Passage, Elephant Lands, and the Education Center. These projects earned national recognition for excellence in habitat design, innovation, and animal welfare. A lifelong conservation advocate, Heidi is passionate about creating a better future for wildlife and is particularly inspired by efforts to protect endangered sea otters and butterflies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Zoology and Conservation Biology from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA focused on Sustainable Operations from York University in Toronto. In 2017, she received the Daily Journal of Commerce Women of Vision Award for advancing opportunities for women and people of color in construction.

Sally Jewell served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 2013-17, following 40+ years in business, including eight as CEO of outdoor retailer REI.  In government, she advocated for thoughtful development and protection of public lands and waters, leveraged science to shape a landscape-level understanding of our resources, nurtured a respectful nation-to-nation relationship with Native American tribes, and engaged youth in opportunities to experience and care for the natural world.  Her volunteer service over the course of her career in environmental, educational, social service, and business organizations, has given her an appreciation of the inner workings of our democracy and civil society, earning her multiple awards along the way.  She serves on several boards, and inspires university students to work across disciplines, in partnership with communities, to understand how their diverse skills and life experiences are essential to shaping a future that is equitable, economically successful, and environmentally sustainable for all.

Benji Backer is the Founder and CEO of Nature Is Nonpartisan, a movement redefining the environment as a nonpartisan issue once and for all. He is the founder of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), the country's largest conservative environmental organization, which he founded during his freshman year of college. A best-selling author of The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future, Benji has been named a NYTimes Changemaker, and awarded the Fortune 40 Under 40, Forbes 30 Under 30, GreenBiz 30 Under 30, and Grist 50. Benji recently completed his fellowship at The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) — and is one of the leading youth environmental voices in the country. Above all, Backer is an avid outdoorsman who spends most of his free time in the mountains out West. He's a proud graduate of the University of Washington and resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Honor excellence in the profession at the Honors and Awards Lunch! Prestigious awards will be presented, along with the annual Marketing Committee’s presentation of PIZZAZZ. The incoming and outgoing AZA Board of Directors and Ethics Board Members will be recognized for their leadership. Incoming Chair of the Board, Dwight Scott, will be inducted and address delegates.