Conservation Strategy Fund Offering NUMBERS for NATURE: Economics & Finance for Environmental Leadership Course

Conservation Strategy Fund in collaboration with CFA is offering a one-week version of our flagship two-week international training course in Washington DC this summer.

I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity and spread the word to folks who would like a greater degree of literacy in conservation economics. After taking this course, participants will understand how, with the proper use of economic tools, we can achieve better outcomes for nature AND people.

This sought after course will be held from July 13-17, and will include other professionals from around the world. 

More information is available at this link or on this downloadable flyer.

Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) Seeking Communication and Membership Assistant

Communication and Membership Assistant for the Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA)

Washington DC

Temporary/Seasonal

GLOBAL CONSERVATION

Job Description

Reporting: reporting to David Meyers, Executive Director, CFA

Objectives: The CFA Communication and Membership Assistant is essential to ensure effective communication among members of the Conservation Finance Alliance and the CFA Secretariat, specifically in support of CFA programs and membership outreach. This role is critical to help with information sharing and logistical support for the CFA Secretariat.

Principal Responsibilities:

• Developing, writing and sending CFA’s monthly newsletter to the members and newsletter recipients; actively soliciting news items from members for inclusion, and updating the CFA website and CFA’s social media accounts with newsletter elements. 

• Monitoring the CFA Secretariat email account and responding to member emails or forwarding communications to appropriate CFA Working Group Chairs, Secretariat and Executive Committee members

• Maintaining and updating the member database, including adding new members

• Maintaining and upgrading the CFA websites including conservationfinancealliance.org (includes cfalliance.org), and conservationfinance.info:

  • Updating the websites content including the library, tool kits, conservation finance guide, and more as requested by the CFA Executive Director, Working Group Chairs and CFA Secretariat.

  • Updating the news section, events calendar, experts database, and other sections on a regular basis.

  • Updating and creating new web pages or websites as requested by the Executive Director.

  • Remaining in regular contact with the Executive Secretariats of RedLAC, CAFÉ and APNET as well as the Conservation Finance Network to identify content-sharing and cross-posting opportunities

• Scheduling, organizing and providing logistical and technical support for webinars including assuring that presenters are comfortable with the technology and have shared presentations with the webinar host (Secretariat). Recording and posting all webinars online.

• Supporting CFA task forces and Working Groups including but not limited to: establish and maintain list servers, scheduling meetings, sending meeting announcements, recording meeting, taking notes during calls, and disbursing meeting minutes following review from CFA Secretariat.

• Reaching out to members and partners to solicit topics for knowledge sharing including documents, publications, relevant webinars, conferences, and more.

• Schedule and assure logistics and communications for quarterly Executive Committee virtual meetings including preparing minutes from meetings

• Schedule and assure logistics and communications for semi-annual Steering Committee virtual meetings including preparing minutes from meetings.

Qualification/Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree, strong research and writing skills a must

• Previous social media and website experience and ability to communicate well with a globally-located, culturally-diverse team desirable

• Understanding and familiarity with biodiversity conservation implementation and policy a plus

• Detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills, including responsiveness to multiple, simultaneous projects and demands; ability to set and follow priorities and meet deadlines

• Ability to work independently and without daily instruction and monitoring 

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite of products, particularly Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint

• Additional skills - Website creation and management (experience with Squarespace preferred), email communications tools including MailChimp.

To apply see the Jobs pages at WCS and search for Communication and Membership Assistant.

Call for Proposals: Conservation Trust Fund 10-Year Review & Update of CTF Practice Standards

The Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) is seeking a consulting team for two linked projects to advance the understanding and effectiveness of Conservation Trust Funds (CTFs): A 10-Year Review of Conservation Trust Funds and an Expansion to the Practice Standards for Conservation Trust Funds. The 10-Year Review will provide all actors with an improved understanding of the scope, effectiveness and impact of CTFs around the world. The Practice Standards project will provide existing and new CTFs with additional evidence-based norms to guide their operations and update the existing Practice Standards. By organizing these two projects under one combined consultancy supported by a CFA Task Force, we will achieve greater efficiency and shared benefits.

Please download the Call for Proposals here. The deadline for submissions is July 24th, 2019.

Please share this Call for Proposals widely with your networks.

Launch of Marine & Coastal Finance Working Group

CFA is excited to announce the official launch of the Marine and Coastal Finance Working Group. We are very pleased to have Marine Finance experts Annabelle Bladon and Melissa Walsh working as Co-Chairs. If you are interested in joining the working group or have questions for our new chairs, please visit the Marine and Coastal Finance WG page on the CFA site.

Photo: Hannes Klostermann

Upcoming: Launch of CFA Incubator

The CFA is soon launching the Conservation Finance Incubator - a new facility to provide virtual incubation services for innovation in conservation finance tools and solutions. The Incubator will support two potential tracks: 1) Commercial Ventures that seek to generate a financial return and 2) Finance Concepts that lead to policy, regulatory, or non-profit finance solutions.  All solutions must be new ideas and show clear potential for conservation impact. Concepts can be from any sector (public, private, etc.) and can include ideas generated directly by CFA Members, partner organizations, and independent organizations and entrepreneurs.  The CFA will announce a call for concepts shortly.  The Conservation Finance Incubator is supported by FFEM and MAVA Foundation.

Update of Environmental Funds Toolkit

The new Environmental Funds Toolkit is now online. Over the past few months the CFA has been working to update the Environmental Funds Toolkit and it is currently available on the CFA website. The updated site now allows us to upload new documents to share among Environmental Funds (also called Conservation Trust Funds).  We are currently looking for examples of Fundraising Strategies, Business Plans, and Investment Strategies that include ESG investing as well as recent examples of various establishment and organizational documents.  Please visit the site and upload relevant documents so that we can add them to the Toolkit. If you have any questions regarding the EFTK please contact the secretariat.

Photo: Alex Mustard

Internship Opportunity with CFA

The CFA is seeking an intern for a Technical Assistant position beginning June 1st, 2019. The CFA Technical Assistant is responsible for supporting the CFA Executive Director and Secretariat with technical writing and analysis, logistics and communications that foster the advancement of the CFA’s mission. This role will allow the CFA Secretariat to enhance its ability to produce material for its website, technical reports, and the conservation finance guide.  The Technical Assistant will report to the Executive Director, CFA, and will be based in Washington DC.

Qualifications: A master’s degree in Environment, Business, or Public Policy or a current master’s candidate. Interest in conservation finance. Strong writing skills. A second language beneficial but not required.

For a full description of the position please view the position description here.

 How to Apply: For consideration, please email your cover letter, resume/CV to: secretariat@conservationfinancealliance.org. Please specify Technical Assistant Internship in the subject of your email. Please include your weekly availability in your cover letter.

CFA Side Event at the RedLAC Assembly, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Please join the Conservation Finance Alliance for an engaging session on Monday, 29 October, from 13:30-16:30 in Sala Empresarial 2.

The agenda will feature:

• Current Investment Climate and Global Financial Situation – Javier Mtanous, Master Capital

• Conservation Trust Investment Survey for Calendar Year 2017 – presentation of results and discussion

• CFA’s key initiatives and strategic planning – presentation and discussion

• Re-launch of the Environmental Funds Working Group

Open to all attendees of the RedLAC Assembly. Light refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP so we can plan for your attendance.

Workshop on Innovative Financing for Biodiversity Conservation

October 27-28 at RedLAC 2018 in Bolivia

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As part of the 2018 Assembly of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC) the CFA is providing a two-day workshop for Environmental Funds and their partners.  This training focused workshop is a collaborative effort by CFA, RedLAC, Project K, and the hosts: Fundación para el Desarrollo del Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (FUNDESNAP) and Fundación para la Conservación del Bosque Chiquitano (FCBC). The workshop aims to explore innovative tools that enhance Environmental Funds’ ability to finance and support biodiversity conservation. The workshop will use presentations, case studies, and facilitated group discussions to share innovations and learnings for several mechanisms in half-day sessions including: 1) Biodiversity Offsets, 2) Impact Investing & Enterprise Incubators, 3) Financing Protected Areas through Tourism, and 4) a topic to be determined by the participants.

Workshop sessions will explore enabling conditions and design features useful for effective financing mechanisms, compare implementation in different situations, and learn from successes as well as failures.

The workshop will be held in Santa Cruz de las Sierra, Bolivia, October 27th-28th, 2018, in the 2 days prior to the RedLAC Assembly.  Please register for both the RedLAC Assembly and the Workshop.
 
To Register for the Workshop: https://goo.gl/forms/gZDfvySqUr8WSjjW2
For more information contact: redlac@naturapanama.org

Please see the downloadable workshop description for further information.

David Meyers to Become CFA Executive Director

The Executive Committee of the Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) is pleased to announce that David Meyers will become the Executive Director of the CFA, effective April 13, 2018.
 
David comes to the CFA from the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) at UNDP, where he served as a senior technical advisor for the BIOFIN process in 14 countries and lead on the global BIOFIN methodology.
 
“David’s first-hand experience in the practice of conservation finance, combined with his professional relationships with so many CFA members and his own experience as a long-term CFA member, make him an ideal leader for the next phase of the CFA,” said Sylvie Goyet of the Executive Committee.
 
In prior roles, David has been consultant on various conservation finance, ecology, economic and environmental projects and initiatives, an entrepreneur in environmental ventures, and a lecturer at both Yale and Columbia Universities. David earned his Bachelors and Doctorate degrees from Duke University and his MBA from the Yale School of Management.
 
“I have greatly benefitted from the resources and network of the CFA since the early 2000’s and am honored to have the opportunity to lead the organization in this exciting phase,” said Dr. Meyers.
 
Currently based on the East Coast of the United States, David has lived for extended periods in both Europe and Madagascar.
 
David will step into the Executive Director role on April 13. Through September 30, 2018, he will be working half-time while wrapping up existing commitments to UNDP-BIOFIN; starting October 1 he will be leading the CFA full-time. During the transition period, Katy Mathias will continue to support the CFA Secretariat to ensure continuity in CFA projects and administration.