Val Fishman

A seasoned sustainability expert, Val has been working for over a decade driving funding to projects that protect nature and help mitigate or adapt to climate disruption. Serving Netafim USA in advocacy and new business development, Val brings together government and companies to increase the adoption of drip irrigation. Her work flips the script on the narrative that agriculture is a driver of climate change by featuring our nation’s farmers as a path toward climate resiliency. This is accomplished by modernizing irrigation infrastructure on crops that have some of the highest natural resource use, including water, demonstrating we can farm more efficiently using fewer resources, protecting our nation’s agricultural economy and maintaining food security. Prior to Netafim, Val was Chief Development Officer at the nonprofit, Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), where she led market development for water restoration as well as BEF’s carbon offset and renewable energy programs. In 2017, she accepted the US Water Alliance’s US Water Prize on behalf of the Change the Course water campaign that catalyzed hundreds of water restoration projects that saved billions of gallons of water across North America.Val has been quoted as an expert in The New York Times and Sustainable Brands, has written articles for GreenBiz and has been on the sustainability speaking circuit for over a decade. She is acknowledged for her role in Change the Course in Sandra Postel’s book Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity.