Resilience & Long Horizons: A SidePorch Convening at LA Climate Week 2026
Climate resilience is not a crisis response posture. It is an operating condition. And the decisions that matter most for resilience are the ones that play out over decades: what infrastructure gets built and for whom, how capital is structured for commitments that outlast budget cycles, what happens to people and institutions when the emergency never ends, and why the signals leaders rely on have so little to do with what communities actually experience.
SidePorch is hosting a full-day executive convening during LA Climate Week 2026 in Santa Monica at a state-of-the-art venue with high quality A/V and production.
The day brings together leaders from infrastructure, capital markets, performance science, public policy, insurance, philanthropy, and community organizing to work across both dimensions of the title: what resilience actually requires when the horizon is not months but generations, and what long-horizon thinking demands when many of the systems we inherit are designed for the past, not the future.
Confirmed speakers and session participants include:
Amber Martinez, Executive Director of Los Angeles Parks Foundation,where she leads public-private partnerships to expand equitable access to green space, recreation, and climate resilience infrastructure across LA's nearly 500 parks.
Caleb McClennen, President of Rare, who has led global conservation strategy across 60 countries and now drives community-centered climate and conservation solutions at scale.
Lauren Faber O'Connor, Partner at Lowercarbon Capital. Former Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles, where she oversaw the green transition of the nation's largest municipal utility, busiest port, and busiest airport over eight years.
Mercedes de la Vega, Associate Director of Climate Partnerships at Acumen.
Mitch Rubin, Managing Director of Portfolio and Investments at Elemental Impact.
Rob Lempert, Director of the Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy at RAND.
Terry Tamminen, President and CEO of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles. Former Secretary of the California EPA and architect of the Global Warming Solutions Act.
A leader from Liminal Collective, a human performance organization that applies elite performance science to high-stakes leadership, resilience, and adaptive decision-making.
The morning features three moderated conversations pairing speakers who approach the same problem from fundamentally different vantage points, including voices from elite performance science, large-scale water and energy infrastructure, public opinion research, and the global insurance and reinsurance sector. Facilitated breakout sessions follow, designed to move from observation to application. The afternoon includes a fireside conversation on institutional innovation for complex, long-horizon challenges. The day closes with a capstone session introducing a new initiative built in partnership with RAND, designed to help leaders and communities make robust decisions when the future cannot be predicted.
This is not a day of prepared remarks and panel rotations. It is a day of genuine exchange among people working across sectors on problems that refuse to respect sectoral boundaries.
Designed for senior leaders, funders, policymakers, infrastructure developers, and practitioners navigating long-horizon complexity across climate, health, education, and economic resilience.
Attendance is limited to approximately 300.
PARKING AND TRANSPORTATION
Validations provided onsite.
31st Street Entrance: Pull a ticket, turn left, then slight right at the stop sign. Park in any open space.
Centinela Ave Entrance: Pull a ticket, go straight past Bank of America, building on your left. Park in any open space.
Rideshare and drop-offs: 15-minute grace period in front of the building.
Metro: Expo/Bundy stop on the Metro E Line is approximately a 1-mile walk or micro-transit trip away.
CHECK-IN
To streamline the process, please have the Luma app (Luma: Delightful Events) downloaded with your QR code readily available. This QR code will also be in the confirmation email you received upon registration. If you are unable to locate it, please provide the registration team your first and last name.
DRESS CODE
We encourage attire appropriate to your comfort level so you can fully engage in the day's conversations and activities. Please note that photography and filming will take place throughout the event.
EVENT RECORDING AND DOCUMENTATION
This event may be recorded. By attending, you consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded, and to any use by SidePorch of your likeness, voice, and name in any and all media including social media. Breakout discussions will have notetakers, and summaries will be shared after the event. If you do not want your name or photo used, please reach out to Andy Riemer ([email protected]).
If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you there.