The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Executive Team Members

Mark Tercek, President and CEO

Mark Tercek is president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the global conservation organization known for its intense focus on collaboration and getting things done for the benefit of people and nature.

A former managing director for Goldman Sachs, where he spent 25 years, Mark brings deep business experience to his role leading the Conservancy, which he joined in 2008. He is a champion of the idea of natural capital—valuing nature for its own sake as well as for the services it provides for people, such as clean air and water, productive soils and a stable climate. Mark’s forthcoming book, Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature, which will be published by Basic Books this April, explores why responsible stewardship of nature is of the utmost importance to businesses, governments and societies.

Growing up as a city kid in Cleveland, Mark was a late-bloomer to conservation. It was becoming a parent that sparked his passion for nature. “I want to be able to look my kids in the eye,” he says, “and tell them I did all I could to leave the world a better place.”

After more than two decades as an investment banker heading various business units for Goldman Sachs, Mark found an outlet for his interest in conservation when he was tapped to develop the firm’s environmental strategy. Inspired by the opportunity to help businesses, governments and environmental organizations work together in new, innovative ways, Mark left Goldman Sachs in 2008 to head up The Nature Conservancy. 

Mark was recently appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the New York State 2100 Commission, which was created in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to advise the governor and the state on how to make the state’s infrastructure more resilient to future storms. Mark is also a member of several boards and councils, including Resources for the Future, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Mark earned an M.B.A. from Harvard in 1984 and a B.A. from Williams College in 1979. [more...]

Brian McPeek, Chief Operating Officer 

As chief operating officer, Brian McPeek works closely with The Nature Conservancy’s president and CEO to lead and manage all major organizational initiatives. He oversees the Conservancy’s Conservation, Marketing and Philanthropy divisions, and works to develop and implement new ways to collaborate across teams and borders. 

In his previous role as the Conservancy’s regional managing director for North America, McPeek led a team responsible for planning and developing the organization’s long-term priorities and strengthening its conservation work among strategy teams and the field. He also worked closely with an integrated leadership team to advance a national conservation agenda. 

McPeek was also instrumental in the launch of the Forever Costa Rica project and strengthened the management of conservation programs by creating and launching the Conservation Measures Business Plan. Previously, as the deputy director of the Conservancy's Colorado program, he oversaw the community-based work in 12 Colorado landscapes as well as statewide science, land conservation, forest health, water and public policy initiatives. 

Prior to joining the Conservancy, McPeek was with McKinsey & Company, where he advised Fortune 500, private equity, and select start-up companies on strategic issues, specializing in capital markets and corporate strategy. In addition, he has served in a variety of positions during eight years of active duty as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, including assignments with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Air Force Headquarters.

McPeek earned a master's in international relations from Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service and a B.A. from Duke University.

Rebecca Bowen, Principal Development Officer

As Principal Development Officer, Rebecca Bowen works with private donors and organizational leadership to develop new business and conservation initiatives.  She acts as principal gift advisor to key U.S. and international fundraising markets and is responsible for the organization’s lead gift portfolio.

Bowen joined the Conservancy in 2005 as Director of Philanthropy for Massachusetts. She was named Director of Principal Gifts for the Worldwide Organization in September 2009 and served in that role until January 2013, when launch of the Conservancy’s Global Challenges Global Solutions Framework called for clear focus on the nexus between Conservancy direction and the strategic goals of conservation philanthropists.

Bowen brings 20-years of lead gift and capital campaign experience to her position with the Conservancy, including leadership roles in precedent-setting campaigns for Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago and The Museum of Science and Industry.

Bowen holds a B.A. with Honors in English Literature from Barnard College, Columbia University. She is a graduate of the Conservancy’s Sawhill Fellows Program. Bowen was a founding member of Chicago’s Development Leadership Consortium and lectures on individual giving at Boston University’s School of Management Public and Nonprofit Management Program.

Mark Burget, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the North America Conservation Region

Mark Burget serves The Nature Conservancy as Executive Vice President and North America Managing Director. He recently returned to the Conservancy after serving as President and Chief Operating Officer of the ClimateWorks Foundation, a global philanthropic network focused on energy and land use policy. Mr. Burget previously served as The Nature Conservancy's Chief Conservation Programs Officer, overseeing country programs in North America, Latin America, Africa, Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region. Over the past twenty years, Mr. Burget also has served the Conservancy as Director of Global Priorities, Director of the California Program and Director of the Colorado Program. He earned both his J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Virginia and his BA in Government from Dartmouth College.

Bill Ginn, Chief Conservation Officer

As chief conservation officer, Bill Ginn leads both the Global Conservation Focus Area Teams (Marine, Freshwater, Conservation Lands & Protected Areas, and Climate Change) and the place-based conservation arm of The Nature Conservancy — currently spanning 32 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific as well as North America — and works to advance the organization's most significant projects and strategies.

During his 12-year tenure with the Conservancy, Ginn has held a number of leadership roles in both domestic and global programs. As director of the Global Forest Partnership, he helped the Conservancy protect over 3 million acres of forestland through dozens of innovative deals. He also has served as director of the Forest Conservation Strategies Program, deputy director of the Eastern U.S./Caribbean Region and deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Region.

A thought-leader of the larger conservation community, Ginn is the author of Investing in Nature, a book about engaging the private sector in conservation.

Steve Howell, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

In May of 1995, Steve Howell joined The Nature Conservancy as controller. He was appointed director of finance and accounting in 1996, vice president of finance in 1998, chief operations officer in 1999, chief financial officer in 2002, and currently holds the title of chief financial and administrative officer.

As CFAO, Howell oversees all aspects of the Finance, Human Resources, Technology and Information Systems, Facilities and Administration, and Internal Audit departments. Under his stewardship, the Conservancy's assets have grown from slightly more than 1 billion dollars in 1995 to more than 5 billion dollars today. Annual revenues and operating expenses have both tripled during this same time and the number of physical locations where the Conservancy operates is nearly five times that of when he joined the Conservancy.

Howell is a member of the AICPA and the Virginia Society of CPA's, has been a frequent speaker at American Institute of CPA national conferences, and serves on the audit committee of the American Psychological Association.

Peter Kareiva, Chief Scientist

As The Nature Conservancy’s chief scientist, Dr. Peter Kareiva is responsible for: reporting to the board of directors on the state of science in the Conservancy; mentoring its scientists; identifying opportunities and shortcomings that warrant science attention if the Conservancy is to fulfill its mission; advising leadership on emerging conservation challenges; and serving as one of several external spokespeople for science at the Conservancy. Kareiva's scientific research at the Conservancy focuses on two areas: first, projects aimed at asking whether conservation strategies are indeed delivering what they promise to deliver ("measures of success"); and second, developing credible tools that allow routine consideration of nature's assets (or ecosystem services, such as clean water and flood control) in a way that informs the Conservancy's business choices and how people around the world choose to live everyday.

Dr. Peter Kareiva moved to the Conservancy after 20 years as a university professor and three years working on salmon conservation for NOAA Fisheries. His past publications and research have covered such diverse fields as mathematical biology, fisheries science, insect ecology, risk analysis, genetically engineered organisms, agricultural ecology, population viability analysis, behavioral ecology, landscape ecology and global climate change. Kareiva maintains connections with several universities and still advises students, as well as teaches courses on occasion.

In addition to conducting research, Kareiva believes that general communications and writing are essential in science, and consequently is writing a conservation textbook with Dr. Michelle Marvier of Santa Clara University. [more...]

Catherine ‘Rinnie’ Nardone, Co-Director of Principal Gifts

Rinnie joined The Nature Conservancy in January 2008 as Director of Philanthropy, California Chapter. In November 2011 she accepted a position as Co-Director of Principal Gifts. This past November (2012) she began her current role as Chief Development Officer leading fundraising efforts for the Conservancy’s global priorities, with a focus on securing principal leadership gifts to drive the conservation agenda.

She has more than 25 years of experience in development and fundraising. After graduating from Boston University with a B.S. in communications, she spent six years working as a development officer at Harvard Law School. In 1993 she joined the development staff of Stanford University as director of the Law Fund. Thereafter, she held a succession of development positions, culminating with her appointment in 2002 as associate dean for external relations at Stanford Law School. During her career at Stanford, Rinnie contributed to two successful fundraising campaigns. Her department raised 230 percent of the initial goal and feasibility assessment for the 1999 campaign and, before her departure in January 2008, had already raised more than half of the 2011 campaign target.

Karen Poiani, Ph.D., Chief Conservation Strategy Officer

Karen has enjoyed working for The Nature Conservancy for 16 years and is currently Chief Conservation Strategy Officer. She is responsible for supporting and improving the Conservancy’s priority strategies and projects and helping launch new ones. She leads a team of staff whose primary focus is to help the Conservancy become a “results-based conservation” organization – evaluating our priority conservation investments, increasing accountability, and making better business decisions based on information and learning.

Karen received her M.S. in botany (1987) and Ph.D. in ecology (1990) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. She completed a post doctorate at Cornell University working on spatial modeling, wetlands ecology, and climate change. Karen joined The Nature Conservancy in 1995 as National Landscape Ecologist. In 2000, she helped the Conservancy shift to a broader landscape paradigm, and was part of a team that updated the Conservancy’s guiding document Conservation by Design. Karen moved to Hawai‘i in 2001 to work with the Conservancy’s Asia Pacific Program on broad scale conservation planning and served as Director of Conservation Programs for the Hawai‘i Chapter from 2002-2007. Karen re-joined Central Science in 2007 to become the Director of Conservation Learning then Director of Science. Karen served as curriculum chair of the Conservancy’s 1,100-participant Conservation Learning Exchange and organized the Conservancy’s first ever Climate Adaptation Clinic. Karen enjoys bike riding, cooking, and yoga. She lives with her partner on the Upper West Side in New York City.

Glenn Prickett, Chief External Affairs Officer

Glenn Prickett oversees international and U.S. government relations, corporate practices and sustainability efforts, and relationships with leading international institutions and non-governmental organizations for the Conservancy. He joined the Conservancy in January 2010 after two decades working on international environment and development policy.

Prickett comes to the Conservancy after 13 years at Conservation International, where he led efforts to engage the private and public sectors in conservation and sustainability. He founded and led CI’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, a division created to engage the private sector in developing solutions to environmental challenges. During his time at CI, he also led the organization’s policy and climate change teams. In 2009, Prickett served as a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation to help shape core elements of an effective global response to climate change. He also served in the Clinton Administration as chief environmental advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he coordinated policy and budget for U.S. environmental and energy assistance to developing nations.

Prickett graduated from Yale University in 1988 with a B.A. in economics and political science.

Geof Rochester, Chief Marketing Officer

Geof Rochester joined the Conservancy as the chief marketing officer in July 2010. He is responsible for steering the organization's marketing, membership and visibility strategies.

Rochester has a deep and varied marketing background. Most recently, he was the executive vice president for marketing at World Wrestling Entertainment. Prior to that position, he served as senior vice president for marketing at Showtime Networks. He held senior marketing positions at Comcast Communications, Radisson Hotels International and Proctor and Gamble. Rochester has consulted with several non-profit organizations, helping them advance their missions through strategic marketing efforts.

A graduate of Georgetown University, Rochester received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Angela Sosdian, Chief Philanthropy Resources Officer

Angie Sosdian leads the Conservancy's philanthropy arm, which raises $400 million annually and is one of the largest such programs in the United States. Sosdian oversees a staff of 150 focused on private giving and long-term gift planning. She and her team also are responsible for the organization’s $1.6 billion Campaign for a Sustainable Planet, the largest private development campaign ever undertaken for conservation.

Sosdian joined the Conservancy in 1980 and has held a variety of fundraising positions over that time. She initiated the Conservancy's Legacy Club recognition society, now 18,000 members strong, developed the Conservancy's Donor Advised Fund and expanded the organization’s development efforts to include a philanthropic planning program. She served as Director of the Conservancy's Marketing Strategy Project and helped establish the organization’s first brand marketing efforts. In 2005, Sosdian received the Conservancy's Lifetime Achievement Award for professional excellence.

Sosdian has served as officer and board member of the National Committee on Planned Giving (now the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning), and is an Editorial Advisory Committee member of the Journal of Gift Planning. She is a past officer and board member of the National Capital Gift Planning Council, and in 2006 received that organization's Distinguished Service Award. She graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University.

Wisla Heneghan, General Counsel

Wisla Heneghan is the chief legal officer for The Nature Conservancy, overseeing the work of the Conservancy’s Legal Department, which provides a full range of legal services in support of the Conservancy’s  conservation mission.

Wisla joined the Conservancy in 2013 with over 15 years of extensive legal and management experience in the areas of real estate, environmental issues, international markets, government procurement, mergers and acquisitions and risk management. Prior to joining the Conservancy, Wisla served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Staples, a global office products company with businesses in 27 countries throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. At Staples, Wisla led a large team of attorneys and contract specialists, including the legal teams supporting the company’s retail, business-to-business, and online operations. Prior to joining Staples, Wisla was in private legal practice with the law firm of Goodwin Procter where she served in the firm’s national real estate group, and the law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo where she practiced in the firm’s commercial litigation, criminal litigation and real estate groups.
 
Wisla is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and the State University of New York at New Paltz. Wisla was born in Minas Gerais, Brazil and raised in Brazil and New York.

Janine M. Wilkin, Chief of Staff

Janine Wilkin is currently the chief of staff for The Nature Conservancy. Prior to taking on this role in January of 2009, she served in leadership roles in marketing and philanthropy including deputy director of philanthropy where she oversaw fundraising in major markets and as director of field resources where she oversaw field marketing as well as several philanthropy support services for the organization. She also serves on an advisory board for Conservation Leadership through Learning, an innovative Master’s level program in development at Colorado State University.

Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2005, Wilkin worked for America Online (AOL) for eight years where she held a variety of marketing and general management positions. Most recently, she was executive director, brand strategy and prior to that she held several leadership roles where she developed business plans to maximize the user-experience as well as drive advertising revenue for strategic content areas on AOL. Prior to AOL, Wilkin worked for nine years at the Time Life division of Time Warner where she held several direct marketing and new product development roles.

She holds an M.B.A. with a concentration in Marketing from The George Washington University and a B.S. in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University.