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Inspiring Insights

Discover more about our amazing
lineup of speakers.

2025 Speakers

Our 2025 conference featured some of the most prominent leaders, changemakers, and experts from across the outdoor industry. To read the Speaker BIOS, click on each speaker's photo, or below to read them all.

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MARK ALLEN

Statewide Trails Administrator, Ohio Department of Natural Resources

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JOE APGAR

CEO, Pelotonia

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ANDREW BASHAW

Executive Director, Buckeye Trail Association

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CURAN BONHAM

Program Officer, Richard King Mellon Foundation

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CHRISTIN BUTLER

Executive Director, Co-Founder, Solid Ground School

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JANE CAVAROZZI

Co-Founder, Dirty Girl Coffee & President, Glouster Revitalization Organization (GRO)

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FOREST CLEVENGER

Executive Director, Ohio River Way

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JENNIFER CLINTON

Senior Parks and Conservation Economist, Trust for Public Land

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MARTY CONLEY

Director, Greater Lawrence County Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism

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JOE CROWLEY, M.S.

Faculty Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Program, Ohio University

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COURTNEY CURTNER

President, Ohio Climbers Coalition

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ROSS DANTONIO

Officer, Ohio Off Highway Motorcycle Association

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ELLE DICKERMAN

Sustainable Recreation Director, Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia

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MADISON DONOHUE

Tourism Manager, Appalachian Understories

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BOB EICHENBERG

Former Planning Director, Athens County Regional Planning Commission & Former Partner, Eclipse Ltd.

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TEE FORD-AHMED, PH.D.

Communication and Media Director, Mount Zion Black Cultural Center 

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KAELA GESCHKE

Ohio Parks for People Program Director

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MEREDITH HILL

Director, Conservation Landscape Program, PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources

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JEFFREY JOHNSON

Chief, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, Ohio Department of Natural Resources

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MILES KIRKSEY

Program Associate, The Conservation Fund

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BRIAN KOSCHO

Invisible Ground

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LAQUINTA "Q" HAYNES

Outreach Coordinator, Adaptive Sports Connection

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SUSAN LEOPOLD, PH.D.

Executive Director, United Plant Savers

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ELLIE LERNER

Program Associate, Activating the Natural Resource Economy, The Conservation Fund

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SCOTT LINNENBURGER

Principal, Kay-Linn Enterprises

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WESTON LOMBARD

Director, Rising Appalachia and Solid Ground Farm

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DAWN MCCARTHY, PH.D.

Engagement Staff Officer, U.S. Forest Service, Wayne National Forest

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DANNY MEYER, PT, DPT

Executive Director & Co-Founder, The Bridge Adaptive Sports and Recreation

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PATTY MITCHELL 

Executive Director & Founder, Passion Works Studio

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MYRA MOSS

Professor & Educator, Community Development, Ohio State University Extension

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PETER NOVOTNY

Chief of Recreation, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District

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CHRIS O'BARA

Board Member, Athens Conservancy

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MICHELLE O'MALLEY, PH.D.

Assistant Dean of Experiential Learning, Ohio University

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STEVE PATTERSON

Mayor, City of Athens; President National League of Cities; Board Chair, ORCA

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CHRIS PERKINS

Vice President of Programs, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable

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ABBI PETERS

Chief Operating Officer, PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship

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JESSIE POWERS

Executive Director, Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia

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JASON REED

District Ranger, U.S. Forest Service, Wayne National Forest

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NATHAN REIGNER, PH.D.

Director, Pennsylvania Office of Outdoor Recreation

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AMY RENNER

Community Development Senior Program Manager, Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)

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JASON RESER

Trail Development Director, Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance (CORA) & Ohio Mountain Bike Alliance (OMBA)

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EMMA SHAW

Exercise Physiologist, OhioHealth

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KELLY SHAW

Baileys Working Group Member & Business Builder Coordinator, Applachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet)

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MARY BETH SILLS

Volunteer & Community Outreach Coordinator, The Wilds

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MOLLY JO STANLEY

Southeast Ohio Regional Director, Ohio Environmental Council 

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GWYNN STEWART

Ohio State Extension Office, Noble County, Assistant Professor- Community Development

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SEAN TERRY

Associate Vice President, Ohio State Director, Trust for Public Land

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BOONE TROYER

Executive Director, Visit Athens County Ohio

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DANNY TWILLEY, PH.D.

Assistant Vice President of Economic, Community and Asset Development, West Virginia University

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BOB WEST, PH.D.

President, Athens Bicycle Club

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HOWARD T. WELSER III PH.D.

Southeast Ohio Regional Representative, Climb Athens
Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Ohio University

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SARAH WICKHAM

State Tourism Director and Chief Communications & Marketing Officer, Ohio Department of Development

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JEREMY WIMPEY, PH.D.

Principal, Applied Trails Research

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JOHN WINNENBERG

Co-founder Sunday Creek Associates, Former Board member Ohio's Hill County Heritage Area, Co-founder, Ohio's Winding Road 

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KYLE WHITE

Educator, Community Development, Ohio State University Extension

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MELODY YOUNG

Executive Director, Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau

2025 Speaker Presentations

Explore the sessions and key ideas our speakers shared. To view them, click on the links below. 

Tuesday, July 22nd

AN OHIO PLACE-BASED STRATEGY
Jessie Powers, Bob West, Ph.D.; Jason Reed, Dawn McCarthy, Ph.D.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF MOUNTAIN BIKING
Jennifer Clinton

PLACE-BASED LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Michelle O'Malley, Ph.D.; Joe Crowley, M.S.

PA WILDS STORY OF PLACE ROOTED IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Abbi Peters

21ST CENTURY TRAIL DESIGN & MAINTENANCE
Jeremy Wimpey, Ph.D.; Scott Linnenburger

STATE STRATEGY FOR LANDSCAPE SCALE COLLABORATION AROUND OUTDOOR RECREATION & CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP
Meredith Hill

STATE STRATEGIES FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
Abbi Peters, Curan Bonham, Meredith Hill, Nathan Reigner, Ph.D.

EXPANDING NATURE'S BENEFITS TO ALL
Jeffrey Johnson

READY, SET, ACTIVATE: ACTIVATION ASSESMENT AND STRATEGY TOOLKIT
Miles Kirksey, Ellie Lerner

FROM PASSION TO PROFIT
Madison Donohue, Brian Koscho, Jane Cavarozzi, Justin Bowers

OHIO'S RECREATION & TOURISM
Sarah Wickham

HEALTH BENEFITS OF NATURE
Emma Shaw

Wednesday, July 23rd

OUTDOOR RECREATION: AN AMERICAN INDUSTRY
Chris Perkins

OHIO OUTDOOR RECREATION SUCCESS
Mark Allen, Forest Clevenger, Andrew Bashaw, Peter Novotny

BUILDING AN ENTREPRENEUR-FRIENDLY COMMUNITY (FOR THE OUTDOOR RECREATION SECTOR)
Kyle White, MS; Gwynn Stewart, MS; Myra Moss, MS, MBA

STRENGTHENING PENNSYLVANIA'S OUTDOOR RECREATION INDUSTRY
Nathan Reigner, Ph.D.

COMMUNITY-DRIVEN RURAL AND URBAN REVITILIZATION THROUGH PARKS AND TRAILS
Sean Terry, Jessie Powers, Kaela Geschke, Kelly Shaw

IMPLEMENTATION OF OUTDOOR RECREATION-BASED STATE STRATEGY
Danny Twilley, Ph.D.

OHIO ARTS, CULTURE, AND HERITAGE TOURISM
Melody Young, Brian Koscho, Tee Ford-Ahmed, Ph.D.; Marty Conley

NATURE BASED EDUCATION
Mary Beth Sills

NETWORKING REGIONAL FLAVOR
John Winnenberg, Patty Mitchell, Bob Eichenberg

FOCUS ON NATURAL CAPITAL
Christen Butler, Chris O’Bara, Molly Jo Stanley, Weston Lombard, Susan Leopold, Ph.D.

GRASSROOTS TO GROWTH: MUNICIPAL LEADERSHIP UTILIZING SOUTHEAST OHIO'S OUTDOOR RECREATION ASSETS FOR COMMUNITY BENEFITS
Amy Renner, Jessie Powers

OUTDOOR RECREATION ECONOMY OPPORTUNITIES
Ross Dantonio, Courtney Curtner, Danny Meyer, PT; Howard T. Welser III, PH.D.; LaQuinta "Q" Haynes

SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT OF PLACE-BASED BUSINESS
Patty Mitchell

SCALE AND IMPACT: LEVERAGING OHIO'S OUTDOOR ASSETS THROUGH STRATEGIC EVENT DEVELOPMENT AND TRAIL INFRASTRUCTURE
Jason Reser, Andrew Bashaw, Joe Apgar

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