Executive Team Members
Mark Tercek, President and CEO
Mark Tercek was appointed president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy in July 2008. Previously, he was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, where he headed the firm’s Center for Environmental Markets and its Environmental Strategy Group. While with the firm, Tercek played a major role in designing and implementing their environmental strategy. In prior positions at Goldman Sachs, he headed various business units, including Corporate Finance, Equity Capital Markets, Consumer/Healthcare and Leadership Development. Tercek joined Goldman Sachs in 1984 and was named a partner in 1996.
Tercek is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Board of Directors of Resources for the Future. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of Western Reserve Academy, a boarding preparatory school in Hudson, Ohio. He is an adjunct professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Tercek earned his M.B.A with distinction from the Harvard Business School in 1984 and B.A. with honors from Williams College in 1979. [more...]
Bob Bendick, Acting Director of External Affairs
Bob Bendick is the director of U.S. Government Relations and the acting director of External Affairs. Prior to his current position, he was the vice-president and managing director of the 10-state Southern U.S. Region of the Conservancy. Bendick has been with The Nature Conservancy since 1995, first as director of our work in Florida. As acting director of External Affairs, Bendick advises the Conservancy’s public policy platforms and manages the U.S. and international government relations programs and campaigns for public funding for conservation.
Before coming to the Conservancy in 1995, Bendick was deputy commissioner for Natural Resources of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, where he managed the natural resources functions in New York State government. During this time he also served for three years as chair of the Northern Forest Lands Council, which proposed actions to protect the future of the northern forests of New York and New England.
Prior to coming to New York, he was the director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, where he supervised all conservation and environmental functions of Rhode Island State government and twice chaired the Committee on the Environment of the New England Governors’ Council.
He has a B.A. from Williams College and a masters in Urban and Regional Planning from New York University.
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.
Rebecca Girvin-Argon, Chief Philanthropy Officer
Rebecca Girvin-Argon was appointed chief philanthropy officer in May 2009 and leads the Conservancy's philanthropy arm, which raises $400 million annually and is one of the largest such programs outside a university setting in the United States. Girvin-Argon oversees a staff of 150 focused on corporate and 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.
Previously, she served as the Conservancy’s director of principal and major gifts and prior as associate state director for advancement for the Conservancy’s Illinois program. Her accomplishments include successful funding of the Emiquon wetlands restoration, a $25 million project along the Illinois River, and completion of the first successful capital campaign undertaken by the Illinois program. In 2006, Girvin-Argon was selected for a fellowship in Indonesia and spent nine weeks there developing the program’s first strategic marketing plan and training volunteer leaders and staff.
Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2001, Girvin-Argon’s appointments included vice president for external affairs at the Chicago Botanic Garden; executive director of the Museum Center Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio; and director of annual programs at The Art Institute of Chicago. She has served as a director of the Association for Fund Raising Professionals, Chicago Chapter, and on the board of the Development and Membership Committee of the American Association of Museums.
She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in English and German from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.
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.
Brian McPeek, Chief Conservation Strategy Officer, Conservation Programs/Regional Managing Director for North America
As chief conservation strategy officer for the Conservation Division, Brian McPeek leads a team responsible for planning and developing our long-term priorities and strengthening our conservation work among strategy teams and the field. McPeek is also the regional managing director for North America, where he closely works with an integrated leadership team to advance a national conservation agenda.
He has been 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.
Philip Tabas, General Counsel
Philip Tabas 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 biodiversity conservation mission.
Tabas has been with the Conservancy for 29 years, and has held a range of positions in the areas of land protection, government relations, compatible economic development and conservation planning. He has been directly involved in numerous private land conservation and compatible development projects, particularly those involving the innovative use of conservation easements in the United States and other countries. He has also worked to secure changes in Federal, state and international tax policy to encourage conservation activities.
Tabas received a B.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University, his J.D. from the George Washington University, a Master of Land Use Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and an LL.M. degree in tax law from Boston University Law School.
Elizabeth Ward, Acting Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Marketing Communications
Elizabeth Ward joined The Nature Conservancy in January of 2004 as director of marketing publications and became director of marketing communications the following year. As acting chief marketing officer, Ward oversees the organization’s field marketing efforts and one of the country’s largest membership programs, with nearly 1 million supporters.
As director of marketing communications, Ward is responsible for the Conservancy’s flagship marketing channels, including the award-winning Nature Conservancy magazine; elite media relations; digital marketing focused on the organization’s award-winning Web site, nature.org, and social media efforts; brand marketing; and strategic communications for the Conservancy’s policy, strategy and science work.
Ward has more than 20 years experience across print and interactive media, focused on new product development, and a strong editorial background in trade and continuity publishing at St. Martin's Press and Time-Life Books. Prior to the Conservancy she served most recently as executive director for America Online's Research & Learn Channel.
Ward is a graduate of Wellesley College.
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