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PROPOSED REAPPOINTMENT
Appointee(s): Emily Harris, Laurel Ross, and Mark N. Templeton
Position: Council Members
Department/Board/Commission: Conservation and Policy Council
Effective date: 1/1/2021
Expiration date: 12/31/2023
Summary: The Conservation and Policy Council advises the President, Board of Commissioners and General Superintendent and develops and annually updates a strategic plan to operationalize the Next Century Conservation Plan, as well as reviewing and making recommendations for the annual budget, conservation policies and practices and long-term strategic issues.
Emily Harris, Principal, Harris Strategies. As Principal of Harris Strategies, LLC, Emily Harris helps organizations bring big ideas to action. Emily leads strategic plans and designs programs to bring hundreds of partners together around common goals. Her work to make the Chicago region a better place has included initiatives on economic growth, open space conservation, historic preservation, leadership development, disability rights, and early childhood education. She has a passion for urban living, social justice and conservation, and is deeply committed to setting collective agendas and getting things done. She created and launched ADA 25 Advancing Leadership--the nation's only independent non-profit focused on civic leadership by people with disabilities. She led the Burnham Plan Centennial focused on metropolitan Chicago's future. She led development of the Next Century Conservation Plan for the Forest Preserves of Cook County and assisted with the development of the World Business Chicago Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs and Cook County Partnering for Prosperity plan. Emily serves on the Boards of Directors of Access Living and the Leadership Fellows Association of Leadership Greater Chicago, and is a member of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation Strategic Planning Committee.
Laurel Ross, Former Director of Urban Conservation, Field Museum, Chicago. Laurel Ross has served in numerous leadership positions within the conservation community of Chicago, demonstrating a tremendous commitment to conserving the native environment of Illinois. Laurel was the Director of Urban Conservation for the Field Museum from 2004 to 2014. In this role, she developed and oversaw programs that connected people to nature through environmental education, habitat restoration and collaboration between related environmental and cultural organizations. She has also served as Chair of Chicago Wilderness, Director of Conservation Programs for the Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and Director of the North Park Village Nature Center. Laurel has many years of experience as a committed volunteer and leader in environmental stewardship through the Volunteer Stewardship Network of Illinois.
Mark N. Templeton, Director, Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago. Mark Templeton has an extensive background in government finance and strategic planning with a demonstrated focus on environmental issues. He currently serves a Director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago. Prior to this role, Mark was Executive Director of the Office of Independent Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust, where he helped ensure that the $20 billion pledged by BP was available to address claims of affected individuals. He also served in the cabinet of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon as Director of the Department of Natural Resources, where he managed approximately 1759 employees, oversaw an approximately $300 million annual budget, oversaw Missouri State Parks, and directed allocation of approximately $350 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Additionally, Mark was Associate Dean and COO at Yale Law School, developed strategies for environmental sustainability at McKinsey & Company and was a senior adviser to the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.
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