AEMI Acquires Premier Environmental Industry Conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Washington, DC – The Alliance for Environmental Markets & Investment (AEMI) is expanding its footprint in the environmental sector with the acquisition of the Environmental Markets Conference (EMC), according to Michael Hare, board president of AEMI. He also announced the expansion of the group’s board of directors, and the launch of new initiatives.
“Taking on the management and operations of the EMC creates greater support going forward to sustain and expand the programming, while further developing initiatives in workforce development and education, new markets, and investment opportunities,” said Hare. AEMI, a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization, provides the environmental restoration community with opportunities to connect and collaborate through premier educational conferences, workforce development initiatives, and emerging market and finance opportunities.
Carlene Bahler, president of Virginia-based JT&A, which established and managed the EMC since its inception, as well as a member of the AEMI board, said, “Working with our dedicated team to develop and grow this conference has been our passion for over two decades. Knowing AEMI is the right home to preserve and build upon EMC’s legacy, while also seeing the potential to develop greater engagement opportunities and to curate new initiatives to grow the overall industry is an exciting new frontier.”
Since 1997, the Environmental Markets Conference has been known as “the must attend event” for those involved in protecting, mitigating and restoring our natural resource assets such as fish, wildlife and species, water, wetlands, streams, water quality and quantity, carbon, biodiversity and related environmental markets.
The 2025 EMC will be held in Seattle, WA, from May 12 – 15, 2025. Registration is still open for the conference, and for more information, click here. Following the conference this spring, AEMI will begin launching new programming focused on workforce development, education, new market opportunities, and driving greater investment in the sector.
AEMI announced a new slate of Board Members:
- Carlene Bahler, JT&A
- Greg DeYoung, Westervelt Ecological Services
- Martin Doyle, Duke University
- Michael Hare, AEMI Board President
- Barrett Jenkins, Davey Mitigation
- Tim Male, Environmental Policy Innovation Center
- Adam Riggsbee, RiverBank Conservation
- David Urban, EIP
To learn more about the Environmental Markets Conference: https://environmentalmarketsconference.com/
To learn more about the Alliance for Environmental Markets and Investment: https://aemi.org/
BACKGROUND:
The Environmental Markets Conference was formerly owned and operated by JT&A. AEMI and JT&A’s shared intent to move the conference to AEMI is to ensure the long-term success of the conference and to create greater opportunities for collaboration and coordination under a 501(c)(3), nonprofit, educationally focused organization.
EMC convenes each spring as a powerful, independent, and balanced platform for improving resiliency and sustaining environmental outcomes with economic and public benefit. EMC has evolved and expanded its engagement across compliance, voluntary and resiliency drivers of private market mechanisms to protect, mitigate and restore our natural resources with increased transparency and accountability further supporting increased private investment in the environment.
The Ecological Restoration Business Association (ERBA), formerly the National Mitigation Banking Association, is a 501(c)(6), nonprofit trade association that has engaged at the EMC since its inception. ERBA facilitated a dialogue with JT&A, along with a small group of industry leading practitioners, to identify a more permanent institutional solution to support the continuation and expansion of the conference, while maintaining the conference’s high degree of independence and impartiality in content creation and execution.
The conference will continue to be guided through the support of an independent Steering Committee, which comprises industry participants from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
ABOUT AEMI:
Alliance for Environmental Markets & Investments – Established as a connector, AEMI supports the unprecedented level of activity in ecological and environmental restoration and efforts to mitigate climate change impacts. Its mission is to work and collaborate with existing organizations, connect and support across resources and industries, while being self-funded with minimal organizational development.
In 2019, AEMI launched the inaugural Global Environmental Markets and Finance Summit (GEMFS) in Washington, DC. GEMFS continued in 2023 in Denver, CO.