Jen Cordaro – Guest Speaker

Jen “The Archer” Cordaro is a born and raised city girl from Southern California and has always had a passion for the outdoors, sustainable living, and community driven engagement. At a young age she became involved with Future Farmers of America (FFA) in her home city.

She raised livestock for county fairs, participated in urban homesteading projects, held the position of chapter President for two years as well as other leadership positions for the San Diego County Sectional. She earned her state FFA degree among multiple other FFA awards. Jen continues to support Southern California FFA chapters as an adult.

During college Jen followed her dreams of working on humanitarian issues around the world, which led her to travel and impact the lives of communities across 26 countries. She focused on issues of sustainability, anti- trafficking of youth, and refugee displacement. During her travels she learned many skills around agriculture production, off-grid survival, and community building, which only increased her desire to be more active in the outdoor community stateside.

After completing her M.A. in Human Rights Advocacy and Non-Profit Management, Jen was called to do work closer to home and started working with United States veterans where she learned about the systemic issues that American’s face daily. That work ultimately translated into the hope of making sustainable policy impacts which led her to start a Ph.D. program in Public Policy. With a love for the outdoors and a desire to bridge American communities, Jen now focuses on pro- hunting policy work. She uses consumptive outdoor recreation as a bridge between multiple, non-cohesive communities across America using education and community organizing.

Born out of a desire to bridge communities and to teach outdoor skills to youth, the #BringAKidCampaign was started by Jen and her best friend. The 100% volunteer run program focuses on answering letters from youth in order to teach them good work ethic, responsibility, and self-reliance by participating in hunting, fishing and the shooting sports, often for the first time.

Jen is a certified archery instructor, SCUBA diver, angler, backpacker, hiker, gardener, hunter, conservationist, and takes pride in her ability to live off the land with her survival and homesteading skills. She preserves produce, processes and prepares her own wild game meat, and makes her own beer and wine from locally produced ingredients. Jen shares all of these skills with others through offering free workshops to the public.