2021 ANNUAL MEETING: Plenary Session Details

Learning Organizations: The Intentionality of Being Uncomfortable

The past year has been marked by upheaval and change with assumptions challenged, institutions broken, and organizations adrift. The conservation community has not been immune to these very influences. 

What does the past year teach inquiring minds? How do leaders embrace adaptive thinking, manage tension constructively, create inclusive organizational cultures, embrace the wonder of learning and the art of being uncomfortable…with intentionality?

Heather E. McGowan and Crystal Egli will be the keynote speakers. Ms. McGowan is an author and consultant whose work focuses on organizational resiliency for changing times. She is the co-author of “The Adaptation Advantage.” Ms. Egli is a diversity, equity, and inclusivity consultant. Prior to forming her own business, she worked for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. She is the co -founder of The Inclusive Guide.
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Together, they will pack a one-two punch on thinking about learning organizations and what they mean for our collective organizational future in the conservation space.

About the Presenters

Heather E. McGowan is an internationally known speaker, writer, and advisor. She prepares leaders to most-effectively react to rapid and disruptive changes in education, work, and society. Future-of-work strategist Heather E. McGowan helps leaders prepare their people and organizations for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Third Industrial Revolution was marked by computerization and automation of physical labor, laying the foundation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which will be notable for the rapid advancement of technology tools into the domain of human knowledge work. In this world, humans must continuously learn and adapt, and with this transition comes information overload. Heather gives lucidity to this topic through her illuminating graphic frameworks and powerful metaphors, all backed by deep research. In 2017, LinkedIn ranked her as its number one global voice for education. Pulitzer Prize–winning NYT columnist Thomas Friedman frequently quotes Heather in his books and columns and describes her as “the oasis” when it comes to insights into the future of work. Heather’s sessions help employees and leaders alike prepare for and adapt to jobs that do not yet exist. McGowan’s clients range from start-ups to publicly traded Fortune 500 companies, including AMP Financial, Autodesk, Biogen, Citi, Accor Hotels, AARP, The World Bank, and BD Medical. Often quoted in the media, notably in the New York Times, McGowan serves on the advisory board for Sparks & Honey, a New York–based culture-focused agency looking to the future for brands. McGowan’s academic work has included roles at Rhode Island School of Design, Becker College, and Jefferson University, where she was the strategic architect of the first undergraduate college focused exclusively on innovation. In 2019 Heather was appointed as a faculty member of the Swinburne University Centre For the New Workforce in Melbourne, Australia. Heather advises and gives keynote addresses for organizations all over the world and, with her colleagues, provides bespoke consulting to help organizations adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Her think tank is called Work to Learn because McGowan believes that in the Third Industrial Revolution, we learned (once) in order to work and now, in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we will work in order to learn (continuously). McGowan is the co-editor and author of the book Disrupt Together: How Teams Consistently Innovate and a Forbes contributor. Her latest book on the future of work, The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work was released by Wiley in April 2020.

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Crystal Egli grew up in rural Vermont backpacking, fly fishing, water and snow skiing, but it wasn’t until she took up hunting for her own food that she uncovered something larger within herself, something that couldn’t be kept inside any longer. Her true mission began. Crystal has spent the last few years working to improve authentic representations of marginalized people in conservation marketing and as a result drafted an open-source plan called “Project Mountaintop” that was distributed nationwide to natural resources organizations, the outdoor retail industry as well as government and non-government organizations to adopt. The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies awarded Crystal the 2019 Stephen Kellert award for “outstanding service in advancing connections between humans and the natural world to all peoples in a diverse and inclusive manner”.  Crystal uses her platform and voice to continue to help carve out more inclusive spaces in conservation work and outdoor recreation. Not only does Crystal work in the marketing section of a public land conservation organization, she is also on the Board of Directors for Environmental Learning for Kids, a hunter education instructor, a member of the Next 100 Coalition, co-founder of Inclusive Journeys, and a mom. Her current role with Inclusive Journeys blends all of her experience and passion into one major initiative that will bring changes to how we include, relate and communicate with marginalized communities.

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Emcee

Tony Wasley
Director, Nevada Department of Wildlife