I'm a committed biodiversity conservationist with a career dedicated to leading and advancing conservation nonprofit effectiveness and fundraising. Born in Australia and educated in the UK, from an early age I was enthralled by wildlife thanks to Sir David Attenborough whom I met when 8 years old. By age 14, I was managing a nature reserve in London and traveling across the UK by train and bike in search of wildlife and volunteering. At university, I organized and led several research expeditions across Colombia that culminated in the creation of a national park and a network of nature reserves. The expeditions discovered many new species for science (birds, amphibians, ants, and plants). I described four bird species new to science, including the Chocó Vireo. In 1998, I was co-founder of Fundación ProAves in Colombia, which continues to be one of the most effective bird conservation NGOs in Latin America. After graduating from the University of Oxford, I received a Darwin Initiative award to undertake a post-doctoral fellowship at The Natural History Museum and Conservation International. In 2005, I moved to the U.S. to run the International Program of the American Bird Conservancy. In 2008, I joined Rainforest Trust as the Director of Conservation and was appointed the CEO in January 2012. Under my leadership, Rainforest Trust grew from two staff and an annual budget of $1 million (2012) to $49 million and 45 staff (2018). As CEO, I raised $118 million and allocated $105 million in project funding to create new protected areas across 40 million acres of critical wildlands to save endangered species in 60 countries. Currently, I'm the President of Conservation Allies and the Henry Arnhold Fellow of the Mulago Foundation.