Jan Glendening
Managing Director, North America
Des Moines, Iowa
Jan Glendening Jan Glendening headshot. © TNC
Areas of Expertise
sustainable food production, renewable energy, protecting land & water
Biography
Jan Glendening is a member of The Nature Conservancy’s Executive Leadership Team and Managing Director of the North America Region which encompasses the United States and its territories, Canada, the Caribbean, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
Since becoming the head of the North America Region in 2020, Jan has overseen some of the Conservancy’s biggest conservation wins including the launch of the Site Renewable Right mapping tool which is helping accelerate the deployment of renewable energy while keeping natural habitat and wildlife safe; the Conservancy’s work to help enact the Inflation Reduction Act that provides $370 billion in clean energy and climate investments across the United States; and the historic collaboration with Canadian agencies and the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation that protected 6.5 million acres of Indigenous lands called Thaidene Nene.
Jan previously served as the Conservancy’s Great Plains Division Director overseeing the Conservancy’s work on the Mississippi River, grassland & forest systems, as well as food, water and energy issues encountered in working landscapes and cities across the nine Great Plains states. Jan started her Conservancy career in 2001 in the Iowa chapter where she served as the State Director for 7 years.
Jan also previously served on the Iowa Soybean Association’s Research Advisory Council, Iowa’s Water Future Task Force, and as Co-chair of the Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Coalition.
Jan’s commitment to conservation stems from her childhood growing up on a farm in Iowa where she saw the integral connection between people, clean water, and healthy lands. She received her B.A. in Business Marketing from Loras College and lives in Iowa with her husband and two children.