Monday Morning Plenary

Kathy Dahlkemper took office as Erie County Executive on Jan. 7, 2014. She previously represented Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 2009 to 2011. As County Executive, Dahlkemper has served on the National Association of Counties-National League of Cities taskforce on the opioid epidemic. She has been appointed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to serve on the Great Lakes Commission, as well as on the state’s Redistricting Reform Commission. She currently serves as second vice president for the County Executives of America and is on the National Association of Counties International Economic Development Task Force and Community, Economic and Workforce Development Steering Committee. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics advisory board. Since early 2020, she has partnered with the Erie County Department of Health to guide the community through the multiple and monumental challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. As Erie County Executive, she continues to work with public and private partners to build a more vibrant community, to create opportunities for all residents, and to move Erie County forward.

Cindy Adams Dunn became sixth secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in June 2015. As secretary, Dunn has helped position Pennsylvania as a leader in land conservation, outdoor recreation, green practices, and public land management. During her tenure, the department created the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps to connect youth and young adults with job opportunities relating to the outdoors and the environment. She also has directed the agency to provide leadership on planting forest buffers along streams to improve water quality. Under her direction, Pennsylvania continues efforts to address the impacts of climate change, including helping the commonwealth adapt and implement a plan to reduce its impacts on state forests and parks.

Prior to becoming secretary, Dunn had served as the president and chief executive officer of PennFuture, a statewide environmental advocacy. Dunn also served as DCNR’s Deputy Secretary of Conservation and Technical Services from 2007-2013, where she led DCNR’s conservation landscape program and oversaw the community conservation partnerships grant program, which provides $30-$60 million annually for conservation and recreation throughout the commonwealth. Other leadership posts at DCNR included director of the Bureau of Recreation and Conservation as well as director of the Office of Education, Communications and Partnerships.

Over the years Dunn has been recognized with numerous awards for her leadership in conservation including: the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s Frances E. Flanigan Environmental Leadership Award; Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs and Pennsylvania Wildlife Federation Conservationist of the Year; Cumberland County Conservation District Conservationist of the Year; the PA Recreation and Park Society Local Government Award; and the PA Association of Environmental Professionals Karl Mason Award.

Jennie Granger, AICP, became the Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation in July 2018. She provides oversight for department initiatives and policy related to public transportation, aviation, rail freight, passenger rail, bike/pedestrian, and ports. She previously served PennDOT as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary, Bureau Director of Aviation, and Director of PennPORTS. Granger brings 24 years of progressive public- and private-sector experience in all facets of management and technical knowledge of multimodal transportation development to the department.

Granger holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree in rural/urban studies from Shippensburg University.