It seems like my first day with the SECAS staff team was yesterday, but thinking back on all the accomplishments that we have shared as a community over the past few years shows how much we can get done when we work together. It has been an honor and a joy to work with all of the SECAS partners and each of the talented and dedicated SECAS employees. My last day with SECAS will be August 30th, after which I will transition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as their Senior Climate Advisor.

In particular, I am proud of the Caribbean Conservation Community of Practice that has engaged over 30 organizations to build a diverse community working towards data equity, shared priorities, and increased capacity in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Working in the U.S. Caribbean through this community of practice reminds me of why I got into conservation in the first place. The willingness of the partners to work together towards collective action that is bigger than any of us can achieve alone has been refreshing and invigorating. I hope to keep working in the community from my new role at FEMA.

We also worked together to build up the Southeast Landscape of the Future Initiative, bridging non-traditional sectors to come together around a common vision of a future Southeast landscape that sustainably meets the needs of all people. This initiative is in its beginning stages, but already it shows the potential to make durable progress in identifying compatible objectives so people and nature can thrive in the Southeast.

Since I began my tenure as SECAS Coordinator at the beginning of 2022, SECAS staffers have also shown up in service to the partners by assisting at least 10 states and territories with their State Wildlife Action Plan revisions, by supporting dozens of America the Beautiful Challenge Grant proposals, and strengthening various other proposals that have helped bring in over $190 million in conservation funding to the Southeast! We have also shown up for students and early career professionals and championed more inclusive conservation efforts by building meaningful relationships with Tribes and Indigenous Communities, supporting a diverse cohort of interns, and expanding the Southeast Conservation Blueprint into the U.S. Caribbean. We also embraced social science efforts such as the SECAS Social Network Analysis to inform future strategic partnership and decision-making efforts that are based on data.

The SECAS Executive Steering Committee is engaged and actively defining their role and leadership capacity in the partnership and beyond, and the entire partnership has grown and diversified. Tribes, private landowners, and non-governmental organizations have been brought into the fold, although there is still much work to do to ensure that SECAS is serving all communities in the Southeast, not just those traditionally engaged in conservation.

Most of all, I have enjoyed getting to know the people behind the partnership. You all have accepted me into the SECAS community with open arms. The SECAS staff are a dynamic, productive, and extremely intelligent group, and it has been an honor to work alongside each of them. People are the heart of SECAS, and I cannot wait to see where you all go from here. I hope to stay involved from a FEMA perspective and wish you all the very best.