Meet & Greet with Stephenne Harding

Stephenne Harding, president of Great Northern Strategies and former senior director for lands at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, will join Lydia Olander, director of the Nature Activation Hub at the Nicholas Institute, for an hourlong conversation about national conservation policy in the United States (10-11 a.m.).

Topics will include the impact of federal investments in conservation and connectivity; how to build better environmental laws, and the development of a national political strategy to stem the loss of nature in the US in the coming decades.

Plenty of time will be allotted for discussion with the audience. Harding will be available to meet informally with Duke students after the conversation (11-11:30 a.m.).

Advance registration is required for this event.

More About Harding: Harding is president of Great Northern Strategies, a consulting firm that provides political insight, strategic planning, and policy expertise to non-governmental organizations and foundations. Previously, Harding was senior director for lands at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she coordinated President Biden’s conservation agenda that resulted in at least 674 million acres of land and water conserved. Prior to the Biden Administration, Harding worked for the National Geographic Society, former Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Jon Tester (D-MT), the Obama Administration in the White House, and at the Department of the Interior. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and an undergraduate degree from Willamette University. Before graduate school, Harding was a vagabond who lived and traveled on every inhabited continent and worked as a raft guide, backpacking guide, and ski instructor in the U.S. and Germany. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband Shaun, their youngest daughter, Freyja, and their aging street dog, Marra.