Jess Conard, Appalachia Director

Jess Conard is a licensed speech language pathologist who was launched into grassroots advocacy following the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment and chemical spill. Jess has been sought out and featured on multiple national news programs like CNN, Fox and News Nation as well as NPR 1A and other local podcasts to champion endorsements for medical safety and air quality monitoring for her community. While she continues to seek national policy change for rail safety and amplify initiatives for ecological security, it was a seamless shift for Jess to join Beyond Plastics in 2023 to continue a positive path forward to end plastics pollution. Jess is passionate about travel, communication, creating with oil pastels and watching sci-fi movies.