Diane Snyder currently serves as the Chief Program Officer of the Sonoran Institute. Since 1990, the Institute has been bringing together diverse interests to successfully forge effective and enduring conservation solutions while promoting prosperity in the changing economy of the West. Prior to this, Diane served as Vice President of Community Development for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities - a non-profit corporation endowed to support educational, charitable, public interest, and forest sustainability projects in forest-reliant communities. She also spent more than a decade as the founding Executive Director of Wallowa Resources, a locally-based non-profit organization promoting community development and sustainable management in the natural resources sector. Diane grew up in ranching as a fourth generation resident of Wallowa County and managed her own herd on the family ranch for nearly 20 years. She has extensive experience in land use planning, community development, public mediation and state and local government. She has worked for the Oregon State House of Representatives and Wallowa County as the director of the Land Use Planning and Building Department. Prior to moving to Montana where she now resides, Ms. Snyder served on numerous local, regional, and state boards including, the Oregon State Board of Forestry, Oregon’s American Leadership Forum, the Oregon State Watershed Enhancement Board, Wallowa County Natural Resources Advisory Committee, and Wallowa County Economic Action Team. Diane has been recognized nationally as a national finalist in Leadership for a Changing World. In 2001, Diane was recognized as Wallowa County’s Civic Leader of the Year and in 2007, Oregon Business Magazine highlighted her work as one of 50 Great Leaders in Oregon. She was the recipient of the Donald M. Kerr Award from the High Desert Museum. Diane is a woman of passion…for her family…rural communities…and, their environment.