+ about David

David Meyers is an environmental finance expert and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of experience in sustainability, business strategy and management, environmental economics, international conservation and development, environmental impact assessment, training, education and research in ecology and evolution. David has launched and managed various companies including a financial services company providing online marketplaces for impact investing and environmental assets, a triple-bottom-line bamboo-flooring manufacturer in Madagascar, and a technology incubator. David has spent well over a decade in Madagascar and has worked in 46 countries. In Madagascar, he helped the country plan and execute a tripling of the area under conservation, including establishing the Makira Natural Park 370,000 hectare protected area using REDD+ financing. He holds a Doctorate in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy from Duke University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

+ About charles

Charles Besançon is a conservation planner and policy specialist with over 20 years professional experience. As a trained planner for national parks and protected areas in the USA, he brought his field experience to global policy jobs with the United Nations, international organizations and national governments. He spent 6 years as the Head of the Protected Areas Programme at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge UK developing and aggregating global information on protected area systems and presenting this to global policy makers. He spent 4 years as a staff member of the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal Canada coordinating the LifeWeb Initiative that assisted developing countries in leveraging funds to build and strengthen protected area systems, help ecosystems adapt to climate change and manage invasive alien species, among other issues. He has extensive experience in project and programme development, proposal writing and fundraising. He has lived in the USA, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada and has worked and travelled in over 80 countries. Charles is currently working as a consultant from Missoula Montana, close to intact ecosystems and scenic beauty.

+ about sylvie

Sylvie Goyet is Advisor to the CEO and Vice President of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

Prior to joining SPC, she was Director, Climate Change and Environmetnal Sustainability at the Pacific Community (SPC), Director General of FIBA – Fondation Internationale du Banc d’Arguin, a private Swiss foundation working in West Africa on coastal and marine conservation issues.

Sylvie held previous positions as the Regional Coordinator of the UNOPS/UNDP/GEF MedWetCoast project (France), Programme Manager at WWF International (Switzerland), Programme Officer at UNDP Black Sea Programme (Turkey), UNEP Caspian Sea Programme (Azerbaidjan), and UNDP Suva (Fiji).

Sylvie is a French and Swiss citizen, holds a Master degree in Environmental Management from the University of London, an MBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master in International Business from the Business Management School of Lyon.

Sylvie presently serves on the Board of the BioGuine Foundation (Guinee Bissau) and of the Wild Touch Association (France), on the Advisory Panel of the Edinburgh Ocean Leaders and as an instructor for the MOOC ‘Gestion des Aires Protégées’ at Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne.

+ about lorenzo

Lorenzo J. de Rosenzweig Pasquel, has thirty + years of experience in the environmental and conservation finance field. He has a B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Engineering from the Monterrey Technological Institute (ITESM) and a Master in Science degree in Marine Biology and Seafood Technology from Oregon State University.

As President of the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (a US$125 million endowment Conservation Trust Fund) for more than 22 years, and Chairman of the Mesoamerican Reef Fund (a US$25 million endowment Regional Conservation Trust Fund) for more than 10 years, he has acquired extensive experience in fundraising and execution of capital campaigns, and the operation and funding of biodiversity conservation, environmental research, regional development and capacity building projects. He has also contributed to the design and incorporation of learning and practice networks for the National Environmental Funds of Latin America and the Caribbean (RedLAC,www.redlac.org) and 3 additional communities of practice in fire management protected areas and marine conservation.

He is member of several boards and advisory councils, including the Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) Executive Committee, The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), The Mesoamerican Reef Fund, The Healthy Reefs Initiative, The Fund for Communication and Environmental Education, the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Conservation and Exploration Fund and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). In this last one he brings the Latin American perspective to development issues linked to biodiversity and natural resources.

His fields of expertise include biology, ichtiology, ornithology, natural sciences, environmental engineering, food science and toxicology. Also financial investment and asset management.

He has contributed to more than 30 books and capacity building tools. Has participated also in 6 technical field guides as illustrator and photographer of wildlife.

+ about ray

Ray Victurine is the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Business and Conservation Initiative, which he launched in 2007. The program engages with industry, governments and other stakeholders to explore innovative approaches to balance conservation and development interests through design and implementation of best practices aimed at reducing and compensating for impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ray works with companies and governments to promote achievement of no net loss of biodiversity through voluntary programs, national-level policy initiatives, and market mechanisms which lead to the long-term funding of priority biodiversity and sustainable development outcomes.

Ray also directs WCS’s Conservation Finance Program which focuses on the development of sustainable financing mechanisms that contribute to positive biodiversity conservation and sustainability outcomes. Ray has contributed to the design and development of a variety of endowment and conservation funding institutions around the world and has been leading an annual study on the financial performance of conservation trust funds. In addition he is actively involved in exploring new investment opportunities for conservation-related businesses in an effort to mainstream conservation into business decisions.

Ray serves on the Boards of the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network, the Conservation Finance Alliance, and has been active with organizations engaged with the carbon market. He is also a member of the Biodiversity and Livelihood Advisory Committee for Total Uganda. He is trained as a natural resource economist, and has worked on conservation and sustainable development issues in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for more than 30 years.

+ about katy

Katy Mathias combines experience in finance, nonprofit management, performance measurement, and governance in her role as Conservation Finance Project Manager for the Wildlife Conservation Society. As the co-author of the annual Conservation Trust Investment Survey (CTIS) study of the investment management practices of Conservation Trust Funds (CTFs), and project manager of the educational programs related to the CTIS, Katy works to improve investment management expertise and knowledge-sharing among the CTFs. As a consultant to conservation trust funds, she brings expertise in organizational effectiveness, governance and resource mobilization. Her role also focuses on broader conservation finance efforts to increase available funding to conservation of biodiversity and protected areas. She currently serves as the Executive Secretariat of the Conservation Finance Alliance.

Katy earned a Masters in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management, with concentrations in Strategy and Finance, and a Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Tufts University. She has over 20 years of experience in management and finance, having served as a consultant to for- and not-for-profit organizations in organizational effectiveness, executive compensation, performance measurement & analysis, and project effectiveness. She lives in the State of Washington (US) and currently serves on two nonprofit Boards of Trustees.

+ about John

John Bohorquez is a Technical Specialist at CFA, and a recent Ph.D. from Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in New York. He brings to CFA an expertise in marine conservation finance, as well as a professional finance background in commercial real estate and renewable energy.

John's research at Stony Brook and with the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science (IOCS) focuses on the economics and sustainable financing of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), including case research in Latin America and the Caribbean. He also works on an assessment study of MPAs in China, as well as more local research evaluating economic benefits of shellfish aquaculture in the Long Island Sound region as part of a broader interest in environmental economics and biological oceanography.

Prior to beginning his studies at Stony Brook, John worked in finance, investing in commercial real estate and renewable energy in both the United States and Latin America. He holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College where he majored in Economics and Environmental Studies, and minored in Earth and Oceanographic Sciences.