BOARD

BOARD OFFICERS and DIRECTORS

  • Holt Thrasher (Board Chair and Treasurer) has more than 35 years’ experience in investment banking, information technology, and consulting. He is currently Founder and CEO of Synovia Capital, an investment fund focused on ecosystem management within the data analytics sector. Holt is an active conservationist and nature enthusiast and serves as Trustee and Treasurer of the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation and was formerly Chairman of the National Audubon Society .
  • Debby Ng is a wildlife disease ecologist, environmental journalist, and wildlife crime investigator. She is the Co-founder of the Himalayan Mutt Project, a community-led effort to monitor and manage infectious diseases in wild and domestic animals in Nepal, and Founder of the Hantu Blog, a volunteer-organization that collaborates with government and community stakeholders to conserve urban tropical reefs in Singapore. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions at the National University of Singapore. (Singapore).
  • Jeannie Sedgwick is the former director of the Conservation Program at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. She is currently vice chair of the Resources Legacy Fund in Sacramento, California, vice chair of the Stanford Habitat Conservation Board, and a member of the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve’s Coordinating Council at Stanford University.
  • Jeff Horowitz is an environmental activist, television, and movie producer focused on stories centered around ending deforestation. He co-produced two episodes for the mini-series “Years of Living Dangerously,” aired on SHOWTIME and National Geographic – which won the 2014 Emmy for best documentary series. Prior to his media work, in 2007 Jeff founded Avoided Deforestation Partners, a non-profit organization that has played a pivotal role in advancing forest / climate agreements at the UN Climate Conferences. Jeff also worked closely with his friend Dr. Jane Goodall on the creation of “Trees for Jane” an initiative to support the UN’s trillion tree challenge.
  • Katie LaFleur is a social impact investor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. She leads Investor Relations with FullCycle, where she manages LP relations, communications, and event strategy across the fund.
  • Kristin Rechberger works to reform capital markets to help restore nature, contributing to more just and equitable societies. She is founder and CEO of Dynamic Planet, a firm that advances and invests in nature-based solutions (USA).
  • Mark Cappellano is a conservationist and entrepreneur based in Los Angeles. He is a managing partner of several ventures and is active with several other NGOs.
  • Michael Dye is an accountant and financial transactions expert based in San Francisco.
  • Peter Riggs was the founder and director of the Forum on Democracy & Trade before joining the Ford Foundation as a program officer. He is now an advisor at CLUA.
  • Rhett A. Butler is the founder and CEO of Mongabay. He lives in California.
  • Robin Martin is a professor of geography at Arizona State University where she works to connect place-based science in forests and reefs with remote sensing. She is also co-founder and co-director of the non-profit Hawaii Marine Education and Research Center which connects communities, NGOs, and state institutions with timely scientific information on the marine environment in the Hawaiian Islands (USA).
  • Steve McCormick is the former president of The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the former president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). He now runs The Earth Genome, a global, open-source database on ecosystem services and natural capital.
  • Steve Rhee has been a researcher and practitioner of international sustainable natural resource management with the goal of reducing of climate change emissions for the past 30 years, with a deep commitment to supporting marginalized communities to secure their natural resource and civil rights to prosper with full dignity and joy. He has lived and worked in the US and internationally and is fluent in Indonesian and conversant in Nepali. Steve has a range of professional experiences – from working in the US State Department to living in villages in Indonesia and Nepal for years – so he is skilled in forging connections with senior government officials, business leaders, and villagers equally with a deep sense of empathy.
  • Tim Kelly Tim Kelly is Executive Director of EarthHQ, the media arm of the Global Commons Alliance – a coalition of world leading institutions, that brings together scientific, business, government, and nongovernmental organizations to maintain the resilience and stability of Earth’s natural systems. Previously, Tim was President of the National Geographic Society, and co-founder of Planet3, the game-based Ed Tech platform for STEM. In addition, Tim serves on the US Board of the IUCN, on the Board of Great Plains Conservation Trust, and on the Board of American Prairie Reserve.
  • Winnie Lam is the Senior Director of Sustainability Technology at Nike, where she leads technology efforts to drive sustainability throughout the enterprise. Prior to Nike, Winnie held key environmental roles at Google, where she served as the Director of Energy and Head of Data Center Sustainability. While at Google, she spearheaded an effort to ban the sale of elephant ivory through Google Ads and Google Shopping. That initiative led her to co-found the Global Tech Industry Coalition with World Wildlife Fund, a movement to stop online sales of endangered animal products with tech companies including Microsoft, Facebook, and eBay.

ADVISORY COUNCIL

  • Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, is a primatologist, author, and conservation icon. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a UN Messenger of Peace (UK)
  • Dr. Peter Raven is a botanist who was formerly the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Today he is President Emeritus of the institution. (USA)
  • Aida Greenbury an Indonesian forester who for 15 years was Managing Director and advisor on sustainability issues at Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), one of the world’s largest integrated forestry, pulp and paper groups. Aida left APP in May 2017 to become an independent sustainability advisor at several organizations. Her twitter handle is @aidagreenbury (Indonesia)