TUESDAY, MAY 5
AFTERNOON
2:00 – 3:15 Pm | OPENING SESSION: THE NEXT RING OF GROWTH
Join us for a traditional welcome and opening remarks to kick off the 2026 SFI Annual Conference and celebrate the theme, “The Next Ring of Growth”.
Kathy Abusow
CEO
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Kathy Abusow
Kathy Abusow is President and CEO of SFI Inc., a sustainability leader that stands for future forests. She has held this role since 2007, when Sustainable Forestry Initiative® became a fully independent, non-profit organization. Since joining SFI, Kathy has greatly expanded SFI’s network to include the forest sector, brand owners, conservation groups, resource professionals, landowners, educators, local communities, Indigenous peoples, governments, and universities.
Chief Stephen Angus McComber
Chief (Ratsénhaienhs – Male Chief in Kanien’kéha (Mohawk))
Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke
Chief Stephen Angus McComber
Dan Lambe
Chief Executive, Arbor Day Foundation
and SFI Board Chair
Dan Lambe
Dan oversees the innovative programs and partnerships through which the Arbor Day Foundation strives to educate, recognize, and empower people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. Dan works with corporate and government leaders to use trees to help find positive solutions to sustainability, engagement, and marketing challenges.
Dan’s leadership is helping people understand how responsible forestry and tree-planting helps to address pollution, water quality, climate change, hunger, and poverty.
Dan joined the Arbor Day Foundation in 2005 and was named president in 2014. He has served as a member of the Vibrant Cities and Urban Forests Task Force and the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. He currently serves on the SFI Educational Operating Committee and the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition Steering Committee.
Catherine Grenier
President and CEO, Nature Conservancy Canada
and
SFI Board Member
Catherine Grenier
As head of Canada’s leading national land conservation organization, Catherine oversees partnerships with individuals, corporations, foundations, Indigenous communities, non-profit organizations, and governments at all levels to protect the country’s most important natural treasures. The Nature Conservancy Canada is a longstanding SFI partner collaborating on numerous projects including conserving aquatic ecosystems, protecting bat populations, engaging youth in forest conservation, and supporting Project Learning Tree Canada’s Green Jobs for youth. Catherine also serves on SFI’s Education Operating Committee, the PLT advisory group.
An award-winning leader, Catherine has held executive positions with some of Canada’s foremost nature conservation organizations. Prior to joining NCC, Grenier served as Vice President for national park operations with Sépaq, the Quebec government agency that manages parks and wildlife reserves. Catherine mobilized the Sépaq team to generate an increase of more than 40% in visits to the province’s parks network. She has also held senior roles with Parks Canada. Among her achievements there, she led the process to create Canada’s first national urban park, in Toronto’s Rouge Valley.
Her passion for community building and conservation was recognized in 2016 with an Award of Excellence from the Canadian Parks Council and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
3:15 – 3:45 pm | BREAK
3:45 – 4:45 pm | CHALLENGING TIMES AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES IN FOREST SECTOR MARKETS
In an era defined by shifting supply chains, evolving trade policies, tariffs, and rapid market transformation, the forest sector must rethink how it operates across borders. In this executive-level conversation, we will explore global market challenges and opportunities created through investment in the forest sector.
Derek Nighbor
President and CEO
Forest Products Association of Canada
Derek Nighbor
Michael Berger
Director General
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification
Michael Berger
Lennard Joe
CEO, BC First Nations Forestry Council
and SFI Board Member
Lennard Joe
Pete Madden
President and CEO
US Endowment for Forestry and Communities
Pete Madden
Pete is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Drax Biomass Inc. In this role, he oversaw the company’s global supply chain operations that included the construction and start up of several manufacturing facilities and an export terminal in the Southern United States.
Pete graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marlboro College in Vermont. He also earned a Master of Science in Forestry and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of New Hampshire.
Pete began his career as a forest technician in 1988 with the Westvaco Corporation in South Carolina. In 1992, he joined Georgia-Pacific Corporation where he held various positions including operations manager, procurement manager and senior financial analyst.
In 2001, Pete joined Plum Creek Timber Company and held several key positions including director of financial planning, manager of construction materials, senior resource manager, director of regional marketing, vice president of operations support, and most recently as vice president, renewable energy and supply chain.
He previously served on the board of directors for Keweenah Land Association and the Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee for the Department of Energy.
Pete also has previously served as Chairman of the Advisory Board for the University of Georgia’s Center for Forest Business, Forest History Society, Southeastern Wood Producers Association, Michigan Forest Products Council and the Michigan Renewable Fuels Commission. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Working Forest Initiative.
His interests outside of friends and family are hiking, fishing as well as tennis and golf.
Moderator
Kathy Abusow
CEO
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
