Rhett is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief, and CEO of Mongabay, a non-profit media organization with more than three dozen staff across four bureaus (Global, Indonesia, Latin America, and India) and a network of around 500 correspondents in 70 countries who pursue stories ranging from conventional news articles to deeply-reported investigative projects. Rhett founded Mongabay in 1999 with the mission of raising interest in and appreciation of wildlands and wildlife. For the first ten years of the project, he operated Mongabay on his own, publishing thousands of stories and tens of thousands of photos. Beyond Mongabay, Rhett Butler founded WildMadagascar.org and has advised a range of organizations and institutions, from news outlets to philanthropic foundations to development agencies, and his writing and photography have appeared in hundreds of publications. Rhett was the first journalist to win the Field Museum’s Parker/Gentry Award from the Field Museum in Chicago. A special thank you to Rhett for serving on the Trees for Jane Project Allocation and oversight team.
Tim leads the ‘Nature for Climate’ Branch of the UN Environment Programme and is the focal point for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030. He holds a degree in Forestry and Forest Conservation Engineering from Dresden University of Technology. He previously worked for the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, where he led the portfolio on the conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity. From 2002-2007 he was Regional Programme Coordinate for Europe, the Caucasus, and the Commonwealth of Independent States at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. He also worked for the Danish Ministry of the Environment and the European Commission. A special thank you to Tim for serving on the Trees for Jane Project and oversight team.
Florent is the Executive Director of Global Forest Generation. Florent is developing partnerships among his extensive contacts in the forest and restoration donor community that can support, finance, and implement ecosystem regeneration projects globally. Florent has been involved in over 200 forest and land-use projects worldwide and has extensive knowledge in developing, financing, and scaling projects. Prior to joining Global Forest Generation, Florent, a forest engineer, worked for major global forest organizations, including the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the Centre for International Forestry Research. He is a founding and/or board member of multiple global networks, including the Global Landscapes Forum’s Youth in Landscapes Initiative and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Commission on Communication and Education. He is also a former President of the International Forest Students’ Association.
Jad is the CEO of American Forests. He joined American Forests in 2017 as Vice President of Conservation Programs and was named President & CEO in 2018 after a year of leading the organization forward on issues like climate change and social equity. From 2008 to 2017, Jad launched the Climate Conservation Program at The Trust for Public Land and eventually served as Vice President for Program Development. Jad is a widely published writer on conservation topics and an active presence on Medium. In addition, he has played a leading role in authoring and enacting federal legislation to establish forest programs such as the U.S. Forest Service Community Forest Program.
James is the CEO of Rainforest Trust. A strategic leader in global conservation with a passion for saving wildlife and wildlands, James has a talent for translating cutting-edge science into field projects with maximum conservation impact.
Previously serving as the Director of Wildlife and Biodiversity at the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation he oversaw the Great Elephant Census, worked with International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Convention on Trade in Endangered Species to close ivory markets and save sharks. He also launched programs to support the Convention on Biological Diversity to dismantle wildlife trafficking networks and to save coral reefs.
James was the Africa Director and then Vice President for Conservation Strategy at the Wildlife Conservation Society where he helped design and implement the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and launched new programs in Nigeria, Mozambique, and South Sudan. James helped launch the Tropical Biology Association, taught secondary school in Kenya, and was founding chair of the boards of Aidspan and Community Markets for Conservation. For six years James was also CEO of the UK’s national fundraiser for HIV/AIDS, Crusaid, helping make life-saving treatments available in the UK and Africa. James was educated at Harvard (A.B. Philosophy) and Cambridge (M.Phil. Biological Anthropology and Ph.D. Zoology.)
Teresa joined International Tree Foundation in 2018. Previously she worked as a Senior Programme Manager at the Green Belt Movement which was founded by the late Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai. Teresa studied Environmental Science at the undergraduate level and has a Master’s degree in Project Planning and Management from the University of Nairobi. Teresa has over 10 years of experience empowering community-based organisations in environmental management, forest, and water resource management, programme coordination, community mobilization, resource mobilization, and gender integration in natural resource management.
Dan has worked in the Brazilian Amazon for more than 30 years, publishing more than 160 papers and books on the ecological processes, frontier dynamics, and public policies that shape the region. He was previously Senior Scientist at Woods Hole Research Center, Chief Program Officer of Environmental Conservation at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and a Lecturer at Yale University. Dan co-founded the Amazon Environmental Research Institute in 1995, Aliança da Terra in 2004, and was a founding board member of the Round Table for Responsible Soy in 2005 and INOBU (Indonesia) in 2015. He served on the REDD Offsets Working Group of California and is a member of the Science Committee of Acre State’s SISA program. He was a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fifth Assessment (WG2, Chapter 4). Dan holds a Ph.D. in Forest Ecology from Yale University.
Kahea is a passionate advocate for Indigenous people’s rights, intersectional environmentalism, and justice for all. She is Co-Director at Women’s Earth Alliance: a global initiative that trains, resources, and catalyzes grassroots women’s networks to protect our environment and build healthy, safe, and just communities. Kahea facilitated legal advocacy partnerships for indigenous women-led environmental campaigns to protect lands, forests, water, and sacred sites through the North America Advocacy Network. She also co-led a partnership with the Native Youth Sexual Health Network to develop the Violence on the Land, Violence on our Bodies Report and Advocacy Toolkit. Kahea serves on Advisory Councils for1t.org and Planet Women. Kahea has traveled around the world, studying the terrain of ethnopolitical conflict in Northern Ireland and the ongoing impact of colonization on the construction of culture and identity in the Pacific. She is a mixed, Indigenous woman from rural Hawai’i, and resides in occupied Huichin, Ohlone Territory, in what is currently known as the San Francisco Bay Area.
Lilian is Vice President of Conservation Science for the Jane Goodall Institute USA. He brings more than twenty years of experience using satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems to the job. As Vice President of Conservation Science at the Jane Goodall Institute USA, Lilian directs the scientific department at the Institute and conducts applied conservation research. Recognized for his expertise in applying cutting-edge geospatial technology to conservation needs in Africa. Lilian holds a Ph.D. in conservation biology from the University of Minnesota. He is a former MacArthur Scholar of the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Program on Global Change, Sustainability, and Justice at the University of Minnesota and a former Fulbright Scholar in the use of geospatial technologies at the Center for Remote Sensing at the University of Delaware.
Nigel serves as the executive director of the Preventing Pandemics at the Source initiative with Dalberg Catalyst. He previously worked as president of Rainforest Alliance, global director of the Forests Program at the World Resources Institute, where he launched path-breaking partnerships including the award-winning Global Forest Watch and the Global Restoration Initiative. Nigel also served as vice president for Asia-Pacific with Rare. In 2008, he served as lead advisor on climate change and energy issues in Asia to former US President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative. He has also worked with the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi and established The Nature Conservancy’s Asia-Pacific Forest Program. Nigel holds Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in natural sciences and tropical forest ecology from the University of Cambridge. He has received numerous awards including the Henry Arnold Conservation Fellowship from the Mulago Foundation and the United Nations Secretary General’s Big Data Challenge prize. A special thank you to Nigel for serving on the Trees for Jane Project Allocation and oversight team.
Nonette is the Executive Director of Tenure Facility. She has held this position since October 2017. Nonette is in charge of overseeing the organization. Part of her job is procuring all stakeholders and helping further develop the organization. Nonette is a lawyer, a specialist for Indigenous Peoples, natural resources, and land rights in South East Asia. Her work in Indonesia, the Philippines, and the South East Asia region span at least 25 years. She helped design and implement a people and biodiversity-oriented grants mechanism of the USAID’s Biodiversity Support Program-Kemala. Nonette is from the Philippines and has a bachelor’s degree in Law.
Peace Grace is a forest manager at One Tree Planted. She holds a Bachelor Degree in International Relations from Agnes Scott College. Before joining One Tree Planted, she was a fellow at the US Chamber of Commerce’s Africa Business Center. She is a strong advocate for social justice and founded the Lift Her UP program in Rwanda to empower young women. Peace Grace is passionate about economic development and believes that agroforestry plays a role in providing developing communities with resources to grow. She advocates for the preservation of Africa’s green spaces and loves exploring its beautiful nature.
Kerstin leads the platform and partnerships management at Plant-for-the-Planet, a global children and youth initiative that advocates for climate justice and promotes restoration as one key factor in the fight against the climate crisis. The Plant-for-the-Planet Platform provides restoration organizations worldwide with tools to fundraise and showcase as well as transparently monitor their work. What drives her is the belief that global cooperation, local empowerment, and a hands-on approach are the keys to tackle today’s challenges. Before joining the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation, Kerstin worked on green economy and trade of environmentally sound technologies at the United Nations Environment Programme. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Economics and Economic Policy from Goethe University Frankfurt.