Janet McCartney is the Founder and a Principal of PDW, Inc., one of the largest event production companies in North America situated in Vancouver, Canada where she crafted and led teams designed to produce and manage complex multi-level projects and internationally award-winning events for a diverse range of organizations. She served on the leadership team as a Director of TED Conferences and has directed the growth, design and development of over 50 annual TED Conference events since it changed ownership in 2002, and whose mission is to provide a platform for spreading ideas to everyone, free of charge. Janet started her career in tourism marketing where she managed the highly successful tourism marketing team for Expo 86, developed the brand marketing for Tourism Vancouver, and established Jasper and the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in international ski markets which solidified the viability of the resort into a year-round operation. Animal welfare, conservation and the environment have been her North Star and has led to parallel work to protect and improve the lives of all species and their natural habitats by driving change forward to elevate the conversation that recognizes human behavior and actions that affect the lives of other species, one of the most pressing issues of our time.