Լ����Ƶ

NEW YORK (November 18, 2019) – In October 2019, the Լ����Ƶ welcomed two new members to its national board of directors, Jessica Hellmann of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment and Anna Warwick Riggs, a careered leader in healthcare services and developmental disability arenas.

“The newest members of Լ����Ƶ’s national board each have a distinct understanding for how nature – and a changing world – uniquely impacts people individually,” said David Yarnold (), president and CEO of the Լ����Ƶ. “The expertise and insights Jessica and Anna bring to Լ����Ƶ strengthen our efforts in addressing the existential crisis of climate change and ensuring the conservation movement is accessible for all.”

Jessica Hellmann, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, brings an ecological perspective to big questions about people and the planet. Her studies focus on how climate change is affecting living things and what people can do to reduce the negative impacts in order to live healthy, happy, and sustainable lives. She is also a faculty fellow in the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change at the University of Minnesota as well as a member of the graduate faculty of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the conservation sciences program of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences. She serves on the board of directors of several science and sustainability organizations, including The Great Plains Institute, The Science Museum of Minnesota and Climate Generation.

Anna Warwick Riggs of Little Rock, Arkansas offers a long career of expertise in healthcare services and developmental disability arenas. When her daughter was diagnosed with autism, she became a charter member and president of the Arkansas Autism Society. Later, she worked as a consultant with organizations like the Arkansas Department of Education on Medicaid program development and implementation. Most recently, she partnered with state universities to create post-secondary education options for people on the autism spectrum. Anna has served on and been appointed to boards and commissions, including the Governor’s Developmental Disabilities Council; Arkansas Advisory Board for the Education of Individuals with Disabilities; Arkansas Department of Human Services Committee for Long Term Care Services; and the Arkansas Women’s Leadership Forum. After falling in love with the outdoors, she raised her six children with her husband, John, to appreciate nature the same way and particularly recognized the connection between her daughter with autism and the outdoors. Anna has been on the Լ����Ƶ Arkansas Board since 2005 and is currently the chairperson.

About Լ����Ƶ

With a century-long history, Լ����Ƶ is recognized as one of the world’s oldest, largest conservation organizations and is comprised of an unparalleled wingspan of 23 state offices, 41 nature centers, more than 450 local chapters, and 23 wildlife sanctuaries. Beyond a network of 1.65 million members, Լ����Ƶ boasts a reach of 1.75 million followers on its main social media account and hundreds of thousands of additional supporters through state and regional Լ����Ƶ pages and accounts.

###