Janet Edmond

Senior Director
Conservation International
United States

Mar 27, 2024

Janet Edmond is the Senior Director of Inclusive Partnerships for Sustainable Conservation at Conservation International (CI). Formerly serving as the Director of Peace and Development Partners, she has played a pivotal role in championing a rights-based approach to conservation for the past 20 years. She is committed to enhancing community engagement practices by upholding human rights, advocating for gender equality, and fostering good governance within partnerships.

Janet began her career in healthcare, initially attending nursing school before making a transition to international relations at Boston University for her bachelor’s degree. During this period, the program’s primary focus centered on security issues along with addressing emerging challenges in the realms of environment and development. Later, her career journey took her to Washington, D.C., where she engaged in briefing congressional staff and Capitol Hill activities as part of an internship. Subsequently, she dedicated several years to working with the World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF). She played a pivotal role in a USAID-funded integrated conservation and development project in Madagascar, focusing on communities living in areas surrounding national parks and buffer zones. Her responsibilities encompassed designing the project budget and contributing to initiatives related to family planning and health facilities. These Integrated Conservation and Development projects, spanned both the northern and southern regions of Madagascar. Her experience in Madagascar strengthened her interest and experience in working at the intersection of health, development, and conservation.

Motivated by this experience, Edmond pursued an intensive joint master’s program that included involvement with the Peace Corps. As part of the Peace Corps, she dedicated two years to service in Morocco as a Maternal and Child Health volunteer. Upon her return to the United States, she assumed a role in a global health systems strengthening project supported by USAID. In 2004, she moved back to working on conservation and health, and started to work at CI, managing the ‘‘Healthy Forest, Healthy People, Project,’’ marking a new chapter in her professional journey. Since then, she has more than 20 years’ experience managing health, development, and environment programs, including more than nine years as the Population Environment Director at CI. Janet is an expert in family planning and reproductive health, maternal health, and child health.

She has been engaged in the development of CI’s environmental peacebuilding work. A key step was the groundbreaking grant from the Peace-Nexus Foundation spanning five years, which focused on conflict sensitivity and analysis, demonstrating CI’s commitment to addressing and understanding conflicts within its initiatives. Throughout this collaboration, Janet notes that CI gained valuable insights, emphasizing the importance of learning, experience, and partnership development. That experience also highlighted the importance of engaging staff from across CI to identify experiences, approaches, and lessons—an endogenous approach that built buy-in for mainstreaming environmental peacebuilding. The project delved into case studies and actively engaged with field programs across diverse regions. This holistic approach explored various methods of addressing conflicts and proved to be a rich source of knowledge for CI. The impact of this partnership extended beyond the immediate project, leaving a lasting influence on CI’s strategies and practices in navigating the intersection of conservation and conflict management and resolution.

In addition to her work at CI, Janet co-teaches an annual skill building course on “Conflict-Sensitive Programming” with Carl Bruch at American University. This course is part of the Skills Institutes for graduate students in the School for International Studies, providing a unique opportunity for students to enroll in courses aimed at enhancing proficiency in specific practical skills. This educational endeavor is characterized by a reciprocal learning dynamic between students and lecturers. Janet sees this model as the future of education, emphasizing the collaborative and interactive nature of the learning process, and also she mentions the usage of CI’s Environmental Peacebuilding Training Manual as reflecting this educational approach.

Janet has learned how to navigate many of challenges in working at the intersection of the environment, development, and peace. For instance, securing the time and attention of field staff due to their diverse responsibilities. A significant hurdle was the need for effective awareness raising to foster understanding of various issues, drivers, and root causes. Technical expertise and capacity building have posed additional challenges, given the constraints of a relatively small team within a much larger organization. Fundraising proved to be another challenge, with varying levels of difficulty depending on the institution involved. Despite these challenges, Janet has witnessed the internalization of conflict lifecycle considerations into conservation work, which was particularly rewarding. When individuals grasp this understanding, there is a notable shift toward more conflict-sensitive approaches. Janet emphasizes the positive impact of champions in this field, recognizing their role in driving change. The ‘‘Voices for Peace and Conservation’’ podcast by CI, IUCN, PeaceNexus, and WWF features such champions, providing a platform to showcase their efforts and insights. This platform serves as an inspirational resource for those navigating the intersection of peace and conservation.

Janet recommends that young people who are passionate about environmental peacebuilding to step outside their comfort zones and seize opportunities, such as the Peace Corps, for a broader international perspective. Emphasizing the significance of volunteering, she underscores the importance of acquiring skills in project development and community engagement. In addition to these core skills, Janet highlights the value of expertise in financial management, moderation, and facilitation. She encourages aspiring environmental peacebuilders not to hesitate in reaching out for guidance, emphasizing that people generally are willing to offer assistance. Recognizing the power of personal connections, she stresses their importance and necessity in this field.

To Janet, environmental peacebuilding signifies the integration of diverse voices, interests, and sectors within the field. It involves transforming these elements into collaborative efforts, particularly concerning natural resource management. The goal is to sustain momentum toward cultivating varied attitudes and practices that contribute to the broader objective of fostering environmental peace.

Janet became part of EnPAx with the aim of witnessing individuals unite to make a meaningful impact. Expressing a desire for increased mentorship opportunities, she observes a growing number of individuals pursuing graduate degrees in conflict or conflict-related programs. According to her, EnPAx assumes a crucial role in shaping careers and fostering professionalism within the field, particularly in promoting inclusive approaches such as conflict sensitivity and gender considerations.