Media for the Planet: Legacies of Goodall, Redford, and Turner and the Next Wave
This signature public initiative honors the recent passing of the late Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE (1934-2025), Robert Redford (1936-2025), and Ted Turner (1938-2025): three towering figures whose work transformed the landscape of conservationism, and has paved the way for a new generation of environmental storytelling leaders to carry their legacies forward.
The program will debut as a marquee event at the Climate Film Festival in New York City, featuring a curated multimedia tribute and a high-level public conversation with leaders in film, journalism, conservation, and philanthropy. This initiative positions the legacies of Goodall, Redford, and Turner as a living framework for examining the power of media and storytelling to shape public understanding of our relationship with the natural world.
Featured Speakers:
Anna Rathmann, Executive Director, Jane Goodall Institute USA
Conor Schlosser, Board Chair, The Redford Center
Vasser Seydel, President, The Oxygen Project
Moderator: Leah Thomas
Speaker Bios:
Anna Rathmann: Anna, Executive Director, Jane Goodall Institute USA, has spent her career in conservation and has long focused on bridging science, conservation, education, and storytelling. In striving to inspire change in support of restoration and protection efforts, Anna is passionate about fostering collaboration, including with unexpected partners across multiple industries, which has allowed her to facilitate ongoing dialogues and revenue streams for conservation work with local communities, scientists, educators, media, private industry, and government partners.
Conor Schlosser: Conor is the Board Chair of The Redford Center, and grandson of Robert Redford. He is a producer who works in development and production at RadicalMedia, a company that produces content for film, television, digital platforms, immersive experiences, and events. RadicalMedia has produced Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Golden Globe winning content. Conor is also earning his MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Vasser Seydel: Vasser is the president of The Oxygen Project, an organization on a mission to ignite a global community of nature champions and drive collective action through campaigns, education, and storytelling. Under her leadership, the organization is committed to catalyze a regenerative, conscious, and climate-resilient reality. Vasser is a trustee of the Turner Foundation, where she continues to promote her family’s legacy of environmental responsibility and was the inaugural chairperson of the Turner 3rd Generation Board. She also serves on the boards of the National Center for Family Philanthropy and Dr. Sylvia Earle’s Mission Blue. In addition, Vasser is an Arctic Angel for Global Choices and an advisory board member for One Earth and the University of Georgia’s Sustainability Certificate.
Leah Thomas is a celebrated environmentalist based in Los Angeles, CA. Coining the term ‘eco-communicator’ to describe her style of environmental activism, Leah uses her passion for writing and creativity to explore and advocate for the critical yet often overlooked relationship between social justice and environmentalism. Leah founded and launched the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist, a platform and resource hub that aims to advocate for environmental justice, provide educational resources surrounding intersectional environmentalism, and promote inclusivity and accessibility within environmental education and movements in 2020 - which has since become a leading resource for diverse and accessible climate education.
About the co-presenters:
The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI): The Jane Goodall Institute is a global conservation organization founded in 1977 that advances Dr. Jane Goodall’s legacy in 30 offices around the world. The Jane Goodall Institute continues Jane’s vision of inspiring hope and transforming it into action through science driven, technology enabled programs focused on wildlife research and rehabilitation, community-led conservation, and youth engagement. Through the youth program Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, now active in 75 countries and counting, JGI is creating a movement of compassionate people who uphold its mission to create a better world for people, other animals, and our shared environment.
https://janegoodall.org/ / @janegoodallinst
The Redford Center: Co-founded in 2005 by activists and filmmakers Robert Redford and James Redford, The Redford Center is a nonprofit that advances environmental solutions through the power of stories that move. As the only U.S.-based nonprofits solely dedicated to environmental impact filmmaking, The Redford Center develops and invests in projects that foster action and strengthen the reach of the grassroots efforts powering the environmental movement. Over the years, The Redford Center has produced three award-winning feature documentaries and more than 40 short films, supported more than 400 film and media projects with grants and other services, and disbursed $40 million to environmental films, amplifying change-making solutions to millions of people worldwide.
https://www.redfordcenter.org / @theredfordcenter
By attending, you consent to being photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your entry constitutes your consent to such photography, filming, and/or recording and to any use, in any and all media, in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice, and name for any purpose whatsoever in connection with the event.