CRRA Annual Conference & Trade Show 2026

Anne Therese Gennari is a TEDx speaker, educator, and author of The Climate Optimist Handbook. As a workshop host and communicator, Anne Therese focuses on shifting the narrative on climate change so that we can act from courage and excitement, not fear. With a background in environmental communications and a passion for emotional resilience, Anne Therese created The Climate Optimist to help people reconnect with their sense of purpose and possibility in the face of the climate crisis. Her mission is to inspire action through hope — not by sugarcoating reality, but by encouraging individuals to face the truth with courage, compassion, and creativity. For more than a decade, she has been promoting climate optimism to help people cope with climate change and make decisions to create the climate-just future she believes awaits us. She has brought her message to schools, companies, and organizations, including Harvard, Columbia University, BMW, Tetra Pak, and the United Nations Global Compact.

Michael Martinez is a former elementary school teacher, the author of the children's book Composting for Community , and the founder of LA Compost. During his tenure at LA Compost, he built a decentralized network of community compost hubs across the country’s most populous county. Currently, Michael serves as a Program Manager at the 11th Hour Project, where he directs the foundation’s national composting and organics recycling strategy—focusing on innovative capital, creative land access, and public-private partnerships. A co-founder of the California Alliance for Community Composting, Michael sits on the Board of Directors for both the U.S. Composting Council and the Los Angeles Community Garden Council. He was also appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles to serve as a Commissioner for the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office.