Jackson Wild Board Announces 2022 Leadership
JACKSON, WYO. - 27 Jan, 2022— As Jackson Wild enters its 31st year, the organization announces the election of new officers in the Executive Committee as well as its slate of 2022 Board of Directors and Advisory Council members.
PBS Vice President, Multiplatform Programming & Head of Development Bill Gardner has taken the helm as Chairperson of the Jackson Wild Board of Directors. Gardner manages the content strategy, development and production for PBS in the genres of Science, History, Arts, Culture and Natural History. Additionally, he oversees a wide range of independent projects and his work has received recognition that includes three Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, a Dupont-Columbia Award, an Imagen Award, an NAACP Image Award, and several Jackson Wild and Wildscreen Awards.
John Bredar, VP of National Programming at GBH will continue in the role as Treasurer. Joining Gardner and Bredar on Jackson Wild’s Executive Committee are:
Hélène Ganuchaud, Arte France Jörn Röver, Doclights Janet Han Vissering, National Geographic Partners Kaitlin Yarnall, National Geographic Society Sara Edelson, Netflix Paul A. Baribault, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Pamela Aguilar, Smithsonian Channel (CBS Viacom & MTV Entertainment) Jared Lipworth, Tangled Bank Studios/HHMI Walter Koehler, Terra Mater Factual Studios Ellen Windemuth, Chairperson Emeritus, Waterbear Network
Jackson Wild’s International Board of Directors is comprised of some of the most respected companies in nature, conservation and science media and also includes: African Wildlife Foundation, BBC Studios Natural History Unit, Blue Ant Media/Love Nature, Boréales, Conservation International, Discovery, Gorongosa Restoration Project, Humane Society
International, International Fund For Animal Welfare, Nature/WNET, NEWF - Nature Environment & Wildlife Filmmakers, Off the Fence Productions, ORF/Universum, St. Thomas Productions, Seeker, Sony Electronics, SVT (Swedish Television), The Nature Conservancy, Wanda Films, and World Wildlife Fund US.
“As the media industry is in such a time of transition, it’s an exciting time to be part of a similar transformation with Jackson Wild. We’ve been focused on growing our Festival and Summit into a global presence and a voice to change how the industry works, from the types of content we’re collectively presenting to who is doing the storytelling. Through the engagement and commitment that members of the Board and our event attendees show, we’re already seeing a real measurable change in how we tell stories about and help conserve the wild spaces of our planet,” noted Chairperson Bill Gardner.
Over the last several years Jackson Wild has accelerated equity and inclusion in conservation, science and nature media through systemic changes to advance storytellers representative of all communities. Jackson Wild’s Advisory Council seeks to deepen these initiatives by broadening perspectives that contribute to our place in the industry. The Advisory Council provides support and guidance to the organization with the intent of making recommendations to the Board of Directors. Advisory Council Members include:
Akanksha Sood Singh, Indie filmmaker and founder of Women of the Wild, India Daniel Lin, lead of Storytelling efforts at Nia Tero Foundation for the Pasifika Region, Francene J. Blythe-Lewis, Executive Director at Vision Maker Media, Gunjan Menon, National Geographic Explorer and conservation filmmaker, India, Mac Cardona, Founder of cWave Labs, Natalie Cash, Executive Producer, Wildlife Conservation Society, Neil Losin, Co-founder of Day's Edge Productions, Pragna Parsotam-Kok, Executive Director of Nature, Wildlife & Environmental Filmmakers, South Africa Reyhaneh (Rey) Maktoufi, Co-producer, host, and illustrator of PBS|NOVA's digital series Sciencing Out, Roshan Patel, Media producer, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and Sally Snow, Executive Director for the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute, Philippines.
About Jackson Wild
For 30 years, the Jackson Wild Summit has grown a reputation for hosting extraordinary convenings of storytellers, scientists, conservationists, innovators and media stakeholders. The annual Jackson Wild Summit convening fosters an environment where collaboration and innovation thrive, ideas are launched, and strategic partnerships are forged as participants work together to address critical conservation and environmental challenges facing our planet.
Jackson Wild’s international board members include African Wildlife Foundation, Arte France, BBC Studios, Blue Ant Media|Love Nature, Boréales, Conservation International, Discovery, Doclights, GBH, Gorongosa Restoration Project, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Humane Society International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, National Geographic Partners, National Geographic Society, Nature/WNET, Netflix, NEWF - Nature, Environment & Wildlife Filmmakers, Off the Fence Productions, ORF/Universum, PBS, Saint Thomas Productions, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Seeker, Smithsonian Channel, Sony Electronics, SVT (Swedish Television) The Nature Conservancy, Terra Mater Factual Studios, Wanda Films and World Wildlife Fund US.
Jackson Wild Website: https://www.jacksonwild.org/