Steven Nitah

Executive Vice President, Nature for Justice

Steven Nitah is a respected Indigenous leader from the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation, serving as Managing Director of First 30×30 Canada and Executive Vice President at Nature For Justice. He brings extensive experience in Indigenous-led conservation, land stewardship, and climate action. As Chief and Lead Negotiator, Steven helped establish Thaidene Nëné and advance a relationship agreement recognizing the Nation as an equal partner in governance, operations, and management. His work reflects the spirit and intent of Treaty relationships through shared responsibilities and benefits. Through First 30×30 Canada, Steven supports Indigenous governments in advancing conservation, protecting special places, and pursuing nature-based solutions.

Cathy Watson

Senior Advisor, Landscape Alliance

Cathy Watson is an Ashoka Fellow, journalist and social entrepreneur with 40 years’ experience in Africa, reporting from Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Uganda where she also founded NGOs: Straight Talk produced newspapers in four indigenous languages and radio shows in 16; Mvule Trust was a Guardian Christmas Charity and supported 3400 youth on courses, including 156 foresters. Now Senior Advisor at Landscape Alliance in Kenya, she has worked across the Global South from Peru to Vietnam. She is particularly exercised by seed systems for indigenous species and restoration in cocoa, refugee-hosting and urban landscapes. In Nairobi, she has created green jobs and a biodiversity corridor with over 140 tree species. Editor of the 2026 compendium Urban Forests and Green Spaces in Africa: Case Studies and Lessons from Across the Continent, Cathy believes Africa’s future lies in the hands of its botanists.

Margarita Mora

Chief Programs Officer, Nia Tero

Margarita Mora is the Chief Programs Officer at Nia Tero, where she has played a pivotal role since the organization’s inception, helping shape its approach to building partnerships with Indigenous Peoples around the globe. Drawing on lessons from an extensive career spanning more than 25 years, she has helped advance Nia Tero’s mission by fostering equitable relationships among Indigenous Peoples, local communities, rural farmers, and environmental organizations across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Her expertise includes grantmaking to grassroots organizations, advancing equitable benefit-sharing approaches, and strengthening governance systems that support Indigenous leadership, self-determination, and long-term guardianship of lands and waters.

Nina Kantcheva

Global Advisor on Indigenous Peoples and Local Community Engagement and Partnerships, UNDP

Nina Kantcheva is the Global Advisor on Indigenous Peoples and Local Community Engagement and Partnerships at UNDP. She guides strategies to uphold and advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in climate action, ensure their full and effective participation in climate policy, promote Indigenous traditional knowledge, and develop partnerships and programs that channel resources to proven guardians of nature, including through engagement with the private sector and philanthropy. Nina advises organizations such as Tribal Link Foundation, and is on the Board of Ofrenda Fest, helping bridge alliances between Indigenous Peoples, allies, and the UN. In the early 2010’s, she co-founded Tushevs Aerials, a pioneering initiative dedicated to democratizing remote sensing technology for Indigenous Peoples and organizations working toward environmental and humanitarian goals. Originally from Bulgaria, Nina speaks six languages and holds a master’s degree from The New School University in New York City.

MODERATOR

Annie Thompson

Head of Community Partnerships and Land Strategy, Terraformation

Annie Thompson is Head of Community Partnerships & Land Strategy at Terraformation, where she advances the principle that people closest to the forest should lead its stewardship. She leads work on land tenure, FPIC, community governance, benefit-sharing, livelihoods and social safeguards across Terraformation’s native, biodiverse restoration projects. Annie brings 15 years of experience in land governance, community development and natural resource management across Africa, Latin America and Asia, including managing more than $200 million in U.S. government investments. Previously, she worked at the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Rights and Resources Initiative.