OneNature is thrilled to announce the launch of our new Advisory Council today! We welcome these 9 Advisory Council members to the OneNature family. These talented and visionary people are providing OneNature with strategic advice, professional expertise, and personal passion for advancing the mission, vision, and values of OneNature.

 

“Advancing the interconnection of wildlife and human well-being so animals, people and nature can flourish together.” 

 

Here is a brief introduction to the diverse perspectives, skills, and experience our advisory council brings to OneNature. Full biographies can be found here. 

Jennifer Contegiacomo, Attorney at McDermott Will and Emery LLP has over 20 years’ broad experience advising public and private entities on matters ranging from substantive legal issues to administrative and financial decisions affecting risk management, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and securities offerings.

Amielle DeWann, Founding Partner and Head of Consulting, Impact by Design works with non-profits to implement best practices in designing and implementing whole systems approaches to impact-oriented monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management. 

John de Graaf, Documentary Filmmaker, Author, Speaker, Activist, and Co-Founder of several organizations has over 15 national PBS specials, over 100 filmmaking awards, 4 books including a best-seller, hundreds of published articles, and a filmmaking award presented in his honor annually. 

Stephanie Markan, Executive Director of Research at Gallup leads Gallup’s work with education, technology, and clients in Gallup’s public sector to systematically measure, understand and improve organizational outcomes. 

Nadra Nathai-Gyan, Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago also holds the chairmanship of the National Sea Turtle Task Force and serves as the Conservation Adviser for the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago. 

Jose Fernando Ochoa Pineda, Executive Director and Founding member at Defensa Ambiental del Noroeste (DAN) also serves as senior legal advisor for Pronatura Noroeste, the largest conservation organization in North West Mexico. 

Jason Rylander, Senior Attorney in the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity is also a Professor at American University’s Washington School of Law and a founding member of the National Council on Implementation of the Rights of Nature.  

Claire Sterling, Chief Operating Officer at Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers (HEART) previously served as Director, Grant Strategies at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Board President of the national funder affinity group Animal Grantmakers. 

Professor Sir Robert T. Watson FRS, Author, Chemist, Professor of Environmental Sciences, and Former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has served in numerous key positions throughout his career and received many national and international awards and prizes for his contributions to science. 

 

We also recently held elections for key leadership positions on our Board of Directors and are grateful for their willingness to continue to serve and to take on these essential roles:

Anna Rathmann, Board Chair; Heather Haines, Board Vice-chair; Kate Wall, Board Secretary; and Shawn Sweeney, Board Treasurer.  

Our generous Board Members have also pledged a collective $10,000 in new funding to match donations raised between today and December 31st. You can check out our fundraiser here to unlock their generous support! Or, if you aren’t on Facebook, you can visit our website to donate directly

OneNature is honored and delighted to have the support and guidance of our founding Board and to welcome our new Advisory Council as we enter an exciting next phase in our development!