Women's Leadership Luncheon

Featured Speaker:

Janette Monear

President/CEO of the Texas Trees Foundation

“The Symbiotic Relationship of Trees and People”

Janette Monear, President/CEO of the Texas Trees Foundation, is dedicated to creating livable and resilient communities through the use of trees, green infrastructure and sustainable design. Janette began her career in advertising and promotion for a large bank and quickly transferred her skills to promote and advance urban forestry for the University of Minnesota, which led her to the nonprofit sector. She is a pioneer in urban forestry. “Economic development in the absence of environmental integrity is not sustainable” is her mantra, connecting people to the land and creating that “sense of place” where all people thrive is her mission.

She is a frequent speaker at national and local conferences and a leader in organizational development. Her skills were instrumental in helping develop the Saint John’s University Arboretum and other national and local urban forestry organizations. Janette co-produced, wrote the narration and edited the PBS documentary “Spirit of the Trees.” This two-time Telly Award winning series weaves together Native voices, art and music from 40 indigenous tribes and nations throughout the United States. She has published several training and professional manuals and reports, as well as her award-winning guidebook, “City Trees Sustainability Guidelines and Best Practices,” positioned trees as a capital asset and part of a community’s infrastructure. Under Janette’s leadership at the Texas Trees Foundation, the State of the Dallas Urban Forest Report and the Dallas Heat Island Mitigation Study, provided the impetus for the City of Dallas Climate Action Plan.

Born in 1947 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Janette spent most of her youth exploring nature at Beaver Park, walking upstream in Indian Creek turning over rocks, catching frogs and turtles and observing the natural world. Through her nature enthusiast parents, Janette was encouraged to observe the interconnectedness and interdependence of our natural ecosystems, which opened her to a world of wonder. Family trips to Northern Minnesota, where she fished with her father and took walks in the woods with her mother, further instilled her love of trees and nature. Her work to connect children with nature and leaving the world a better place is a legacy she believes we can, and all should, invest in.

Janette has received many national and local awards, the latest being the 2017 American Society of Landscape Architects Texas Chapter: Environmental Stewardship Award and the 2020 Audubon Texas Women in Conservation Terry Hershey Award.