AN EVENING TO REMEMBER
CELEBRATING HOPE AND HEROES
Saving Our Endangered National Parks & Indigenous Lands
SEC. WADE CROWFOOT
State of California Secretary of Natural Resources. Champion for Climate Resiliency and Biodiversity
JUAN CARLOS NAVARRO
Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Panama. Former Mayor of Panama City
JEFF MORGAN
Executive Director - Global Conservation. As seen in the new ABC News television series LAST LANDS
MARTINA SASSO
Founder/Director—Fundacion Por el Mar Marine Conservation and Environmental Activism. Former Film Director
Wednesday, May 14th, 2025
Event Schedule:
6:00pm - Drinks and Hors d'Oeuvres
Music by Amalgama
7:15 - Move to Presentations
7:30 - Introduction
Michael Sutton, Executive Director, Goldman Environmental Prize
Panel Discussion Hosted by Bob Woodruff of ABC News - Hope and Heroes: Protecting Our Planet—Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of California Natural Resources
9:15 - 9:30 - Questions and Answers
The Olympic Club
524 Post Street
San Francisco
About the Speakers
Juan Carlos Navarro was elected as one of the planet's 100 most promising leaders by TIME magazine (1994) and as one of the key Latin American Leaders for the new millennium by both TIME and CNN (1999), Juan Carlos Navarro is one of Panama's prominent national figures. He founded the National Association for the Conservation of Nature, ANCON, Panama's leading non-profit environmental NGO in 1985. Navarro was elected by IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (Gland, Switzerland) General Assembly (Perth, Australia 1990), as Regional Councilor for Latin America and was reelected in 1994 (Buenos Aires, Argentina), the first Panamanian to serve on IUCN's maximum governing body and the youngest individual elected to its Council. He served as Panama's first Environmental Ambassador, appointed by the President of Panama ad honorem to help formulate the country's national and international environmental policy (1995-1999). Selected by The Nature Conservancy and the MacArthur Foundation as the recipient of his first Inter-American Conservation Fellowship (1998), he is the author of Panama National Parks (Madrid, Spain, 1998), a comprehensive text on the isthmus' national parks and nature reserves. Honored by The Botanical Research Institute of Texas with its International Prize for Excellence in recognition of his leadership of global conservation and humanitarian endeavors (Fort Worth, 2001). Serves on the Advisory Boards of Para la Naturaleza, The Puerto Rico Conservation Trust (since 1994); The American Conservation Coalition (since 2020); and The Wilson Center Latin America Program (since 2024).
Martina Sasso established ocean preservation organisation Por El Mar to address Argentina’s limited focus on marine conservation. The organisation’s bottom-up approach engages communities, finding conservation solutions that benefit both the environment and livelihoods. Martina’s advocacy led to the creation of the Marine Protected Area, Punta Mitre, and the Península Mitre Provincial Park, safeguarding a vital carbon sink. Recognizing the need for effective monitoring, Por El Mar pushed for budget mandates for protected areas and were instrumental in the ban on open-net salmon farming in Tierra del Fuego. Martina now leads the Global Salmon Farming Resistance, aiming to halt industry expansion globally. This year, they are planning a shark rewilding programme to address an 80% decline in Atlantic Ocean shark populations, strategically aligning projects with national conservation needs and global fundraising trends for impactful, immediate results.
Wade Crowfoot serves as California’s Natural Resources Secretary, leading efforts to conserve California’s environment and natural resources. He has served as Secretary since 2019 and advises Governor Newsom as a member of his cabinet.
Secretary Crowfoot oversees an agency of over 25,000 employees spread across 26 departments, commissions, and conservancies. His agency is charged with stewarding California’s forests and natural lands, rivers and water supplies, and coast and ocean. It also protects natural places, wildlife, and biodiversity and helps oversee the state’s world-leading clean energy transition.
Secretary Crowfoot is leading efforts to achieve Governor Newsom’s ambitious environmental vision, including a commitment to conserve 30 percent of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030. He oversees billions of dollars of public investment to protect people and natural places from climate change impacts and has led efforts to navigate California’s record-breaking droughts, floods, and wildfires. Secretary Crowfoot has also initiated a new era of partnerships with California Native American Tribes and is shifting how the agency operates to better support all California residents and communities.
Secretary Crowfoot has been on the frontlines of environmental leadership throughout his career. He served in Governor Jerry Brown’s Administration as deputy cabinet secretary and senior advisor to the Governor, driving climate action. He led the non-profit Water Foundation to build water resilience across the American West. He spearheaded efforts to establish and defend California’s landmark climate change policies as West Coast regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund. As an environmental advisor to then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, he helped establish many first-in-the-nation urban environmental policies. Secretary Crowfoot received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics.
