Jad Daley

Jad Daley is the 40th president and chief executive officer of American Forests, the nation’s oldest forest conservation organization, founded in 1875. Under Daley’s leadership, American Forests has grown three-fold and launched partnerships to tackle climate change and social inequity across the United States.

In his current role, Daley serves as the co-chair of the Forest-Climate Working Group, which he co-founded in 2007, and sits on the boards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, North American Forest Partnership and Nature4Climate. Daley is also the co-founder and co-chair of 1t.org US, the U.S. chapter of 1t.org – a global platform dedicated to conserving, restoring and growing 1 trillion trees by 2030.

Daley has a long record of leadership in the forest community, including serving as the first director for the 22-state Eastern Forest Partnership and establishing a forest-focused Climate Conservation Program during his nine-year stint at The Trust for Public Land. He has also played a lead role in authoring multiple pieces of federal legislation for forests, including the 2021 REPLANT Act, the 2008 U.S. Forest Service’s Community Forest Program and the 2008 Community Wood Energy Program.

Daley’s writing has been featured in media outlets such as the Washington Post, New York Times, HuffPost, Medium and the U.S. EPA Environmental Justice blog. He is a cited co-author on multiple scientific studies in the area of forests and climate change, including new research between the Forest Service and American Forests, which investigates forest soil carbon.

Daley is a graduate of the Peddie School, Brown University and Vermont Law School, where he earned an M.S.E.L. degree summa cum laude.

Follow Daley on twitter (@JadDaley) and read his latest writings on Mediumm (americanforests.medium.com).