Jen Kretser
Jen Kretser is the Director of Climate Initiatives at The Wild Center in the northern Adirondack Mountains of New York State. She has worked at The Wild Center for 18 years, leading interpretive and education programming and building strong community partnerships.
Jen is the founder and director of The Wild Center’s nationally and globally recognized Youth Climate Program, launched in 2009 with the first Adirondack Youth Climate Summit. Since then, the program has expanded to more than 255 youth climate summits across 27 U.S. states and 10 countries. Under her leadership, youth delegations have participated in UN COP21 in Paris and COP26 in Glasgow, and she has helped catalyze youth climate summits in countries including Malaysia, Taiwan, Finland, Germany, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Nigeria, Bermuda, and Canada.
She has written widely on climate change education and speaks internationally on the role of youth leadership and the importance of engaging all sectors of society in climate action. Jen also served on the writing team for the U.S. National Guidelines for Climate Change Education and Climate Justice Education.
Prior to joining The Wild Center, Jen was Director of Education at the Adirondack Mountain Club and has held education roles at the Cincinnati Zoo, Jane Goodall Institute, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center, and Zoo New England. She holds a BS in Wildlife Ecology from Cornell University and an MS in Environmental Science and Education from Antioch University New England.
Originally from the Adirondacks, Jen enjoys hiking, paddling, and cross-country skiing with her family and friends.
