Lisa Kushner

Lisa Kushner is the Agricultural Landscape Projects Director for The Nature Conservancy’s North America Agriculture Program. In this role she leads the Upper Mississippi Foodscape, a concentrated effort to shift millions of acres of agricultural lands to regenerative practices and systems in an area encompassing portions of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The foodscape is part of a larger network of projects designed to create global transformation by supporting environmental, economic and social change at local and regional scales. Lisa is also lead for the Minnesota Agriculture Resilience Initiative and is a key thought leader and source of support for other agricultural landscape initiatives across North America.

Prior to starting this role, Lisa worked on TNC’s Corporate Engagement team, engaging food and agriculture companies. Before joining TNC, she worked in economic consulting. Lisa holds an M.S. in environmental sciences and policy and a B.A. in economics from Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, two young kids and an energetic dog. In her free time, Lisa enjoys making woodcut art, trail running and cross-country skiing.