Cynthia Cannon, AICP, began her career in urban and environmental planning over twenty years ago in Pensacola, Florida. She holds a Master of Public Administration in Coastal Zone Management and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Resource Management and Planning from the University of West Florida. She is currently earning a Master of Science degree at Tulane University’s Disaster Resilience and Leadership program.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Cannon worked as a Conservation and Land Use Planner in Northampton, Massachusetts, overseeing brownfields redevelopment and conservation projects. She returned to Pensacola to continue work in regional and local government on long-range planning and community development projects.

In her current role as Planning & Zoning Division Manager with the City of Pensacola, she oversees long-range planning, master planning, and development in special districts. Her passions include collaborating on local government coastal resiliency strategies.

Leslie Gahagan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Alabama with a major in marine biology. She began her career with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management as a stormwater inspector. Leslie is currently the Sustainability and Natural Resources Director for the City of Foley, where she manages environmental and nature park programs.

She is active in multiple regional and watershed organizations and has over twenty years of experience in stormwater management, water quality, and conservation education.

Jonathan Green assumed the role of Executive Director of Steps Coalition in February 2019, after working for more than 25 years in corporate finance and management consulting for some of the country’s category-leading companies in the pharmaceutical, malted beverage, and telecommunications sectors.

New to the nonprofit sector, Jonathan is particularly passionate about exploring and developing innovative approaches to community and economic development, community health, climate justice, and civic engagement that can drive long-term systemic change and permanently lift frontline communities out of poverty.

A results-oriented finance executive, project manager, and consultant with a broad-based international finance background, Jonathan strives to leverage the best practices he learned working in corporate environments to help the Steps Coalition and other mission-focused, community-based organizations achieve their social improvement objectives.

Abbey Hotard is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Alabama in the School of Marine and Environmental Sciences. Her research focuses on disaster recovery, coastal relocation, and climate adaptation policy.

She holds a PhD in Marine and Coastal Management and Science from Texas A&M University at Galveston and has worked with FEMA and the National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Program.

Andreanecia M. Morris serves as Executive Director for HousingNOLA, leading efforts to address New Orleans’ affordable housing crisis through data-driven and community-informed strategies.

She has led major post-Katrina housing recovery programs supporting thousands of households and has been nationally recognized for leadership in housing equity and policy innovation.

Ali Rellinger is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Sciences at Mississippi State University, where she leads coastal resilience and climate adaptation programming through PLACE.

Her work focuses on climate education and resilience across communities and age groups.

Charles Sutcliffe is Senior Advisor for Resilience at the National Wildlife Federation. He previously served in the Louisiana Governor’s Office, where he worked on coastal policy, climate strategy, and resilience planning.

He was Louisiana’s first Chief Resilience Officer and contributed to statewide climate action and coastal master planning efforts.

Helen Wiley is Director of Programs at Insurance for Good (I4G), and previously sat on its Board of Directors. Her expertise is in climate risk management, disaster insurance, and risk communication.

Prior to coming to I4G, Helen was the Disaster Preparedness Program Director at SBP, a national disaster resilience nonprofit organization. Helen has also worked at the Wharton Risk Center at the University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Director of Research and Policy, where she managed the Center’s Policy Incubator projects, which supported novel approaches for increasing resilience through workable on-the-ground solutions with public sector partners.

Additionally, she has worked on international climate and disaster risk reduction projects at the German Development Institute (DIE) and at the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).

Helen holds a B.A. in Environmental Policy from Washington University in St. Louis; her M.Sc. in Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security was administered jointly by the United Nations University and the University of Bonn, Germany.