2026 Speakers
Keynote Speaker - Kathy Abusow
Kathy Abusow is President and CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI), a non-profit organization with a mission to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. Under Kathy’s leadership, SFI has expanded its scope beyond standards to include conservation collaboration, community engagement, Indigenous relations, environmental education, and career pathways in the forest sector.
Kathy is passionate about career pathways, nature-based solutions, research and innovation, as well as global market access for certified forest products. Kathy has led, moderated, and spoken at well-respected international forums. Kathy Abusow’s TedX Talk on the Power of SFM from 2016 is still highly relevant today given the continued global focus being on deforestation and degradation.
Since Kathy joined SFI in 2007, forests certified to the SFI® Forest Management Standard have grown from 55 million to more than a 150 million hectares on public, private, Indigenous, conservation, university, urban, and community forests across North America. The SFI Standard has global reach and relevance and is endorsed by PEFC Int’l.