Sun Valley Forum 2025: A Convergence of Courage, Community, and Stewardship
I. Opening Reflection
The 10th Sun Valley Forum marked a decade of impact, gathering powerful leaders, innovators, and change-makers in the beautiful Wood River Valley of Idaho to once again catalyze, accelerate, support and inspire. This year, we went All in For Nature, with the aim of building a more resilient world together. We hosted insightful main stage sessions, collaborative multiplier effect workshops, outdoor adventures, and curated dinners all with the goal to connect minds, learn from each other, and build relationships. What better way to appreciate, honor, and strive to protect our natural world than to gather surrounded by five mountain ranges and millions of acres of public lands with the community we have built over the past 10 years?
On the main stage, we welcomed a broad spectrum of voices—artists, scientists, policymakers, and community leaders—who challenged, inspired, and moved us. Award-winning filmmaker and visual artist Louie Schwartzberg opened Day 1 with “Seeing with the Soul: The Hidden Power of Beauty,” using stunning imagery to reveal nature’s unseen rhythms and remind us why we protect what we love. Urgent issues also took center stage, where “Nature Doesn’t Take Sides” brought together Meg Haywood Sullivan, Tori Linder, and Wade Crowfoot to call for bipartisan action on conservation and energy. Boise Mayor Lauren McLean highlighted her city’s efforts to build resilience amid rapid growth, and Shannon Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe, delivered a powerful appeal to restore the Snake River—by breaching the Lower Snake River dams and bringing the salmon home—for the sake of the salmon, the ecosystems, and the people who rely on them.
Another very special highlight this year was the deep honor to host a delegation from Bhutan, the nation that has inspired a world with its national pursuit of wellbeing by measuring what matters, Gross National Happiness. Sonam Pem and Chime Paden Wangdi of the Tarayana Foundation, the Queen Mother’s foundation, shared their work across rural Bhutan, while Tshering Yangzom of the Gelephu Mindfulness City shared the ambitious endeavor to build an urban model of GNH. These main stage moments set the tone for deeper connection, reflection, and action throughout the week.
Wade Crowfoot of the California Natural Resources Agency, Tori Linder, managing director of the film Path of the Panther, and Meg Haywood Sullivan of Nature is Nonpartisan came together for Nature Doesn’t Take Sides, a call for bipartisan action on conservation and energy.
This year was particularly special as we reflected on a decade of driving impact together, while also announcing a powerful new initiative that was sparked by a connection made and ideas explored at the 2023 Forum (see under BREAKING NEWS below). Since the inaugural Forum in 2015, what began as an intimate gathering to accelerate learning and action to build resilience locally and globally, has now reached 2000 attendees, 160 youth activists, 13 Indigenous leaders, 18 countries, and 550+ CEOs of global organizations. We continue to strengthen and grow our impact, reminding ourselves that creating a resilient world starts with showing up for nature, and for each other. Thank you to all who have shown up for us over the years, your presence and contribution are what make the Sun Valley Forum so special.
II. Our Theory of Change
Each Forum is rooted in a set of four essential levers for realigning human systems within the limits of our planetary boundaries: rebuilding food systems, transforming energy systems, mobilizing capital, and engaging people. This year, under the unifying theme “All In For Nature: Building a Resilient World,” we uplifted nature as our best investment: nature delivers multiple benefits, from mangroves providing nurseries for fish, mitigating storm and wave impacts, and rapidly sequestering carbon, to microbes making our soils more productive, drought tolerant, better at sequestering carbon and absorbing and holding water. We curated keynotes, panels and workshops featuring solutions for nature, including across our four powerful guiding pillars.
Rooted in Culture: Reclaiming Our Connection to Our Planet Through People featured Chase Cain of NBC and Kristy Drutman of Green Jobs Board in a conversation on culture, identity, and environmental connection.
On our opening day, featured speakers addressed our key levers, grounding us in the science of the Planetary Boundaries and the strategic roadmaps of One Earth, and concluded with a panel on how spending time in nature transforms us. Day two focused on the key lever of Engaging People and Shifting Culture: Storytellers from media, policy and business illuminated how we can shift culture, behavior, and policies. Our Multiplier Effect session, “Engaging People For Nature,” leveraged the Forum’s deep and diverse expertise, identifying what is working, addressing key gaps, and accelerating solutions to reach people with the messages that resonate, from the messengers they relate to, and through the most effective channels. Jean Oelwang of Planetary Guardians, Justin Winters of One Earth, and Shannon O’Leary of the Earthsense Foundation set the stage in a conversation with Aimée Christensen and each working group focused on different solutions, with key findings including that real change starts by shifting from fear to possibility, empowering values-driven voices, leading with truth, rebuilding systems for good, and grounding action in local communities. Our Workshop Summary has more insights.
Engaging People, Building Community" — a Multiplier Effect Workshop Session featuring Aimee Christensen, Founder of Sun Valley Forum and CEO of Christensen Global; Jean Oelwang of Planetary Guardians; Justin Winters of One Earth; and Shannon O’Leary of EarthSense Foundation.
On Wednesday, the key lever of mobilizing capital took center stage. Under the theme Aligning Resources: Valuing Nature and Catalytic Capital, we learned from Riskthinking.AI how finance can—and must—integrate climate risk into planning. We explored financing strategies to build community resilience, and with Bloomberg, the Washington State Insurance Commissioner’s Office, and Marsh McLennan, insurance took the spotlight: how can we insure for an increasingly risky world? Amid long-term public disinvestment, leaders from 5th C, Agricultural Platform Collective, Southern Farmers Financial Association, North Carolina A&T, and Future Roots called for investment in the connective tissue of our food systems: shared infrastructure, land access, technical assistance, and policy reform. The day’s Multiplier Effect workshop on Catalytic Capital for Regenerative Food Systems was by Open Future Coalition and funders, practitioners, and policymakers came together to explore how capital can better serve community-led solutions. Roundtable discussions highlighted bold, practical tools—tailored debt strategies, first-loss guarantees, five-year philanthropic commitments, land stewardship partnerships, and predevelopment funding to de-risk early-stage work. The message was clear: resilient food systems need more than funding. They need catalytic capital that builds trust, shares risk, aligns long-term—and follows local leadership. The afternoon took us to global reach, featuring large scale strategies to finance nature, from public markets to carbon markets, from global treaties to national models of leadership.
Our final day brought us to the sectors in our sights —Transforming Food and Energy Systems—where legacy infrastructure, extractive models, and misaligned incentives have long undermined human and planetary health. Yet the speakers revealed a better path: one where community-driven innovation, ancestral knowledge, and bold leadership are reshaping the systems that sustain us. We heard specific data and models of The Business Case for Nature from Bob Keefe of E2, how nature inspires innovation with Hempitecture and Good Machine, and about the vital need for energy security and resilience from Brendan Owens, former Assistant Secretary of Defense. We heard from groundbreaking clean energy leader Dr. Tom Buttgenbach of 1st Avenue Capital, whose leadership has helped drive down the costs of solar and storage while maximizing resilience. He shared that to meet the world’s energy needs, we must deliver a solar-based system that is faster, cheaper, and better in many ways, from reliability to climate impact. We closed the morning with The Heat in the Kitchen, a sobering and inspiring conversation between Dr. Anne McBride of the James Beard Foundation and Kate Geagan of Food + Planet. As climate change disrupts foodways and culinary traditions, chefs, farmers, and policymakers are rising to the challenge—reimagining sourcing, education, and menu design to nourish not only our bodies, but our cultures and communities.
The Heat in the Kitchen, an inspiring conversation between Dr. Anne McBride of the James Beard Foundation and Kate Geagan of Food + Planet.
III. Moments We Will Remember
Pre-Conference Explorations
Before we gathered in the theater, we opened the Sun Valley Forum with a chance to reconnect to land – through a morning hike or an immersive tour of Drinkers of the Wind, a stunning regenerative farm tucked beneath the Pioneer Mountains. There, amid wild herbs, fruiting trees, and native plants, Chief Farming Officer Brooke Bonner walked us through the history of the farm and its transformation from a horse farm to an agro-ecology center. She explained their approach to land stewardship, which includes natural pest management, composting, and water-wise farming rooted in ecosystem intelligence. We explored how regenerative practices not only nourish soil but also restore community, and how shifting policies can impact and reshape what’s possible for local growers. We deeply appreciate Brooke and the team at Drinkers of the Wind for their hospitality and knowledge.
Our Dinners
Our dinners are always treasured: held in beautiful settings and featuring locally-sourced climate-friendly food, we invest in our meals as that is where so much relationship building occurs, sustaining us in our work year-round. On our first evening together, we hosted the inaugural Sun Valley Forum Resilient Leadership Awards and BBQ dinner at Trail Creek Cabin. We recognized five extraordinary individuals whose work is transforming our world. Carole King, the iconic singer-song-wroter and environmental advocate, presented to her friend and fellow warrior Brock Evans, the Lifetime Achievement Award for his tireless defense of wild places and major conservation victories driven by passion and persistence. Emmy Scott was given the Change Agent Award for empowering youth around the globe at the intersection of climate, justice and equity. Dr. Tom Buttgenbach received the Gigaton Scale Award for breaking multiple records with his clean energy innovations now capable of powering 20 million homes day and night. Jean Oelwang, the founding CEO of Virgin Unite and Planetary Guardians, accepted the Catalyst Award for her visionary leadership in building global impact initiatives, and Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, was recognized with the Sacred Stewardship Award for guiding the Klamath River restoration project to fruition and bringing land back to the indigenous stewards who have protected it for hundreds of years before European arrival and since. Their stories inspired us, and their work reminds us that resilience is already being restored.
Singer-songwriter and Environmental Advocate, Carole King honors eco-warrior, Brock Evans with the “Lifetime Achievement Award”
Following the awards, Aimée Christensen interviewed Sophia Long to discuss Sophia’s journey to impact at such a young age. To wrap up the evening, Chase Cain of NBC interviewed Dr. Max Holmes of the Woodwell Climate Research Center in a conversation titled “Climate 2025: Charting a Course to a Positive Future” which illustrated the Center’s progress in ensuring a better future for all.
Our second evening is always a favorite: following a wonderful reception at the LEED Silver Limelight Hotel, our attendees joined “Dine-Around” topical dinners across town discussing Nature Finance, Climate Science & Reporting, Scaling Clean Energy, Storytelling, Food & Agriculture, and more. Our “Dine-Arounds” allow conversations to flow within intimate groups, gathered over shared points of interest and great food.
“Scaling Clean Energy Today” Dinner hosted by Dr. Tom Buttgenbach and 1st Avenue Capital at Knob Hill Restaurant
Then on Wednesday evening we jumped on the Gondola at Sun Valley’s glorious Bald Mountain, journeying up to our reception and dinner at the Roundhouse Restaurant, enjoying each other and the breathtaking setting. The Roundhouse is the epitome of a classic Sun Valley experience: its elevation of 7,700 feet provides guests with panoramic views of the quaint town below and of the five surrounding mountain ranges. We surprised Forum founder Aimée Christensen with a garden pot tomato plant and bouquet from Drinkers of the Wind as well as some words celebrating the success of the Forum’s first 10 years. In this beautiful place, we enjoyed each other’s company before the fourth and final day of the Forum.
Incredible Views from our Closing Reception at The Roundhouse on Bald Mountain
Adventure Day: Returning to the Source - Nature as Guide and Reminder
Each year we close out the Forum with “Adventure Day”. One of the gifts of the Sun Valley Forum is its setting—remote, raw, and breathtaking. In the afternoon, participants were invited to step directly into the landscape: rafting the sacred currents of the Salmon River, hiking and biking the dreamlike trails near Galena Lodge, or surrendering to a quiet nature immersion in the surrounding wilderness.
These moments weren’t just activities, they were reminders. To protect our natural systems, we must feel them, breathe with them, remember that we are not apart from nature, but of it. Idaho’s wild places speak softly, but their message is urgent: what we love, we must defend.
Rafting Excursion with White Otter Rafting on the Salmon River
IV. BREAKING NEWS! Our Impact Comes From Building Community & Sparking Collaboration
Since its founding in 2015, the Sun Valley Forum has catalyzed a decade of transformative action—connecting individuals and unlikely allies to spark and scale real-world solutions. Whether through Multiplier Effect workshops or conversations around the dinner table, the Forum cultivates the kind of cross-sector collaboration that drives lasting change. This year, we were proud to feature two industry-shifting announcements—one born directly from relationships first forged in Sun Valley.
On this year’s main stage, Bloomberg’s Leslie Kaufman hosted the session where the Retire Big Oil campaign launched, also featured in an exclusive story she authored. It all started with connections made at the 2023 Forum: the project was conceived of by Alex-Wright Gladstein of Sphere and Todd Paglia of Stand.earth, whose organization is driving the effort. Led by actors including Mark Ruffalo, Jane Fonda, and Don Cheadle, the campaign has engaged the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), to divest from fossil-fuel investments.shifting both capital and narrative—from climate destruction to resilient prosperity.
We were excited that on that same afternoon, Kristin Hull of Nia Impact Capital, a woman-owned, impact first investment advisory firm, announced the breaking news that the Sierra Club Foundation was leaving BlackRock as its primary asset manager for the Foundation endowment and transitioning to Nia and Xponance, Inc., a Black majority-owned, sustainability-focused firm.
We are honored to be the catalyst for transformative initiatives and to have partners like Nia Impact Capital who we are proud to showcase on stage. These announcements underscore the power of convening an array of voices—activists, investors, artists, and thought leaders—around a shared purpose.
Crafted for the Wild: Preserving Nature Through the Spirit of Adventure brought together Chase Cain of NBC, Marcus Selig of the National Forest Foundation, photographer Laura Grier, Chad Nelsen of the Surfrider Foundation, and Bob Wheeler of Airstream Inc.
V. What’s Next? Join Us Online and in New York for Climate Week!
We can’t wait to see you all again!
Our focus at the Sun Valley Forum is to ignite collaboration within meaningful conversations while ensuring our participants are able to connect deeply with nature. Our conference is unique in its ability to blend high-impact dialogue with the grounding power of place – fostering not just ideas, but relationships and action that endure long after the event ends.
As we carry the momentum from this 10th Forum forward, we are reminded that the path to a resilient future is built not only through innovation, but through community, purpose, and shared stewardship. We invite you to stay connected through Open Impact, where collaboration continues and momentum builds. Learn more about Open Impact and how to join the Sun Valley Forum community within the platform HERE. You can revisit key insights through 2025 session recordings on our YouTube, stay informed via our newsletter, and join us at upcoming gatherings.
Mark your calendars for the eleventh Sun Valley Forum June 15-18, 2026 at the historic Sun Valley Resort for the very first time! With the theme Powered By Nature: A Blueprint for Innovation, Investment, and Impact, expect expanded time for conversation, outdoor adventures, and incredible insights from global leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Finally, we will be hosting an event during Climate Week NYC and would love to connect with you! Please look out for upcoming information regarding our event “Powered By Nature: Phocused On Climate” on Monday, September 22, 2025. We welcome any opportunity to collaborate on this, as well to help curate your own event and maximize your participation in this week filled with opportunity, so please be in touch if you are interested in collaborating. We look forward to seeing you all in New York!
Join us next year at The Sun Valley Resort!
Thank You To Our Sponsors
To those who graciously supported the 10th Sun Valley Forum - thank you. To 1st Avenue Capital, EarthSense, Nia Impact Capital, Flowater, Airstream, Woodwell Climate Research Center, The Bernstein Family Foundation, The Russel Family Foundation, E2, The Cool Down, TomKat Foundation, the Limelight Hotel, Understory, Moss Garden Center, and Yerba Madre - your contributions allow the Sun Valley Forum to keep growing its impact each year. We are deeply appreciative of your contributions and are lucky to have such incredible organizations within the Sun Valley Forum community.
