The Openlands Annual Luncheon

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Join us for the 2026 Openlands Annual Luncheon

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Last year, we celebrated with 700+ influential individuals, including elected officials, civic and environmental leaders, and community partners. The 2026 event lineup assures another dynamic occasion you will not want to miss.

For information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact Laura Mueller at lmueller@openlands.org.

WAYS TO GIVE

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Hilton Chicago
720 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago

11:00am to Noon: Networking Reception
Noon to 1:30pm: Lunch and Openlands Program
1:30pm to 2:15pm: Post-lunch Networking

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Join Openlands for the 2026 Annual Luncheon, where we unite the conservation community around our luncheon theme, From the Ground Up, which has multiple meanings at a deeply important time.

First, supporting one another, just as trees do through their root systems and fungi. Second, valuing diversity, just as nature does, because the most thriving places are also the most biodiverse. Third, the importance of gathering and community building in the parks and natural areas that are so foundational to a stable society. At its heart, this theme is about taking cues from nature.

Jean M. Franczyk

2026 Gerald W. Adelmann Conservation Leadership Award Recipient

For a decade, Jean Franczyk led the Chicago Botanic Garden as President and CEO, guiding one of the world’s premier botanic institutions while welcoming more than 1.3 million visitors each year. Under her leadership, the Garden became a center for conservation, science, and public engagement, grounded in the belief that people and nature thrive together.

Through the Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action, Jean advanced the Garden’s global leadership in plant science, from seed bank initiatives that safeguard biodiversity to research that informs habitat restoration. Her work demonstrates that public gardens are beautiful spaces and active laboratories, classrooms, and civic institutions with a responsibility to build stronger communities.

Closer to home, initiatives like Windy City Harvest exemplify how the Garden can grow opportunity from the ground up, training a new generation of conservation leaders while expanding access to fresh, healthy food across Chicago.

Jean’s leadership embodies the spirit of the Gerald W. Adelmann Conservation Leadership Award. She shows that when gardens invest in people as much as plants, they cultivate landscapes, communities, and civic life that flourish together.

Dr. Tessa Francis

2026 Keynote Speaker

Dr. Tessa Francis, Deputy Director of The Nature Record, will deliver the 2026 keynote, sharing insights from a groundbreaking national effort to understand the state of nature across the United States. An interdisciplinary scientist with expertise in aquatic and urban ecology, Dr. Francis previously served as Chief of Staff for the first U.S. National Nature Assessment, the federal initiative that launched this work.

What began in 2022 as a government-led assessment brought together more than 200 scientists to synthesize thousands of studies on the condition of our lands, waters, and wildlife. In early 2025, just weeks before its first draft was due, the effort was abruptly canceled. In response, Dr. Francis and her colleagues carried the work forward independently, releasing it as The Nature Record.

Taking a From the Ground Up approach through science and public participation, The Nature Record demonstrates this year’s luncheon theme in action. Dr. Francis will preview findings from the report, highlight the scale of the challenge, and bright spots already taking root. The report is open for public comment through May 30, with final publication expected in late 2026.

Luncheon Co-Chairs

“

It is an honor to be co-chairing the Openlands luncheon this year and to be celebrating the leadership legacy of my friend, colleague, and public garden leader, Jean Franczyk. Jean lifted up the power of plants. She exemplified collective action as the strongest path forward to advancing plant conservation from the ground up–building the resiliency of our planet in our own backyards to communities around the globe.

Jill Koski
President and CEO, The Morton Arboretum

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I support Openlands because their work strengthens the connection between people and nature, building community across our region. Community building is a value near and dear to my heart. I am honored to serve as a co-chair for the Openlands annual luncheon and see it as a wonderful opportunity to help champion conservation and environmental leadership.