Our Board

Matt started with Nature and Culture in 2015, as an advisor in the Loja, Ecuador office. For seven years prior to that, he was the Executive Director of the Johnson Creek Watershed Council, a conservation organization in his native Portland, Oregon and also served as treasurer on the board of an Oregon-wide network of conservation entities. Additionally, he’s worked extensively for Native American tribal governments in the US, supporting their treaty fishing and water rights. Matt first fell in love with Latin America — its vibrant cultures, stunning landscapes and incredible biodiversity — while in Honduras in the 1990s as a Peace Corps volunteer. He has a BA from Stanford University in English Literature and Human Biology and a Master’s in Environmental Management from Yale University.

Marcia is a preventive medicine physician. For two decades she was medical director of IntraHealth.org, focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa. In North Carolina, she was medical director of a county health department, taught international health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), and taught environmental epidemiology at Duke University’s School of the Environment. Marcia has a BA from Harvard University, an MD from Duke University, and an MPH from UNC-CH. She serves on the boards of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, and the Southern Environmental Law Center, as well as several advisory councils. At home she is an enthusiastic organic gardener.

Andrew is an entrepreneur and conservation advocate. He served as co-chair of Colorado Governor Jared Polis’s transition team for Energy, Natural Resources, and Agriculture in 2019. His work includes legislative,  regulatory and ballot measure policy advocacy, leading initiatives in impact investing for wildlife habitat conservation and pro-Nature election efforts. Andrew led fellow conservation buyers to partner with a land trust to create a 5,000-acre prairie wildlife preserve and helped support another land trust in protecting an inholding in James Peak Wilderness. He is interested in using media and storytelling to raise awareness and action, including a TEDxBoulder talk on endangered species. He is founder and former Director of Environmental Entrepreneurs Rocky Mountains. Andrew was a successful founder and CEO of two software startups and holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi.

John spent 36 years leading development and advancement programs in the charitable and educational sector, including at three major universities, a leading genomics research institute, and the oldest continuously operating theater in the Western Hemisphere. Early in his professional career, he catalyzed the creation of the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, an entity that, after more than 45 years of operation, is now managing properties transferred by the Nature Conservancy. A decade ago he began helping advance companies with technologies that can enhance the future for people globally. Today he is the general partner and managing director of an impact fund with a portfolio of twenty companies in multiple sectors that can make the world more positive for all life on the planet. He and his wife especially enjoy hiking in natural areas.

Ivan founded Nature and Culture International in 1997, and has led our efforts to protect millions of acres of tropical ecosystems. He is the co-founder of the Del Mar Partnership, one of the earliest developers of biotech laboratories in San Diego, as well as prestigious projects like the Del Mar Plaza. His firm has won the Urban Land Institute’s National Award of Excellence. Ivan has served on numerous boards in San Diego, including the Museum of Man and the Director’s Cabinet at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 2010, Ivan won the San Diego Zoological Society Conservation Medal, previously bestowed on conservation icons such as E.O. Wilson and Jane Goodall.

Bob is executive director of E2, a national, nonpartisan group of business owners, investors, and professionals who leverage economic research and their business perspective to advance policies that are good for the environment and good for the economy. E2’s national network includes more than eleven thousand business leaders spread across nine chapters, stretching from New York to Los Angeles, and a staff of advocates who work on climate and clean-energy policies at the federal and state levels. An affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), E2 is the foremost business voice on issues at the intersection of the environment and economy and the leading authority on clean-energy jobs in America. Previously, Bob spent nearly twenty-five years as a journalist covering business and technology for organizations such as the St. Petersburg Times, Austin American-Statesman, and the Cox Newspapers chain. In 2008, he moved to Washington, D.C. to cover Congress and the White House for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, before joining E2 in 2011.

Renzo has broad experience in the field of conservation. In 1996, Renzo and Ivan Gayler established the San Francisco Scientific Station in southern Ecuador, which now supports the largest tropical mountain forest ecology research program in the world. Under Renzo’s direction, Nature and Culture’s conservation model was first developed in Ecuador and then expanded to Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Renzo served as coordinator of the United Nations Geo-Loja report and was president of the Regional Council of the Catamayo-Chira River Basin. In recognition of his efforts, Renzo received the Podocarpus Award from Loja’s Provincial Council for his conservation and environmental management efforts. He holds a Master’s in Zootechnics from the People’s Friendship University in Moscow.

Diana is the host of the Women’s Investor Community Podcast, helping women take control of their finances and invest in conscious companies. www.dianarichey.com. As a financial planner and tax lawyer with over 15 years of experience, she has represented multinational corporations, investment funds, and high-net-worth individuals on matters ranging from international tax planning to charitable giving to cryptocurrency tax compliance. Diana earned a B.A. with honors from The University of Chicago and a J.D., cum laude, from Boston University School of Law. She is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Project Management Professional (PMP®), trained mediator, and FINRA arbitrator. She lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with her husband, young son, and dog, and is passionate about preserving large landscapes.

Daniela is an environmental activist from Pereira, Colombia currently living in Boulder, CO. Over the past decade, Daniela has worked at the intersection of social issues and environmental challenges via nonprofits, philanthropy, consulting, and business, including as the co-founder of the Torres del Paine Legacy Fund in the Chilean Patagonia. She has been an enthusiastic fan and supporter of NCI’s model of conservation and deep partnership with Indigenous communities, which led her to join the organization’s Board of Directors in 2021. Daniela earned a BA from Stanford University, a Certificate in Tropical Forest Conservation from Yale School of the Environment, and a Masters in Environmental and Natural Resources Policy from CU Boulder.

Stewart’s interest in conservation started in high school where he worked in environmental advocacy.  He attended Claremont McKenna College triple majoring in Environmental Studies, Economics, and Politics doing internships in Washington DC for the USPIRGs and River Conservation International.  Upon graduation he moved to Montevideo, Uruguay as a Peace Corps Volunteer working at the nation level on environmental impact assessment training, clean production technologies transfers in the leather industry, clean landfill technology in municipal solid waste management and beekeeping.  From there his career turned to real estate where he worked for a public company in tax credit financed affordable housing development in Boston.  He was drawn back to Southern California when he was recruited to a nonprofit to build affordable housing.  Eventually he went off on his own building a private residential and then commercial real estate company, Urban West Ventures.  Along the way he continued to be an advocate for the environment as board and council members of nonprofits including Wildcoast locally and Earthjustice nationally.  He also was trained as part of Al Gore’s Climate Reality program and gave talks on climate change.  He continues to volunteer on boards related to real estate and the environment.  For more than 10 years he has been a donor to NCI and has helped with occasional projects. He is a recent empty nester with his son Lucas working in Boston and his daughter Charlotte in art school in Florida.  When not at work, he enjoys travel, hiking, pickleball and is always looking for new challenges.

Sandy’s career has focused on starting, managing, overseeing, and investing in small cap companies. He started his first company as a freshman in college and had 60 employees by his sophomore year. In the early 90’s he became one of the first strategic planners in the U.S. advertising industry and went on to co-found one of America’s first and leading brand strategy firms that served category-leading brands such as Coca-Cola, P&G, IBM and GM. In the mid-2000’s he sold the firm and joined @Last Software as the independent board director through the company’s acquisition by Google. Following the exit he co-founded Lacuna Gap Capital, which provides equity “Gap Capital” to emerging companies in the public and private markets. Sandy served on the boards of directors of seven technology companies and three services companies. He is a past president of the Harvard Divinity School Alumni/Alumnae Association, and served on the school’s Dean’s Council for 11 years. He received a BA in English from Duke University and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard University where he studied the history and philosophy of world religions.

Adriana was a dedicated environmental lawyer from Colombia, deeply committed to the protection of her country’s natural heritage. She worked on environmental law and policy issues in Latin America, focusing on sustainability, nature-based solutions, and strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Adriana was particularly passionate about advancing the transition to carbon-free energy systems, promoting urban forests, and exploring the intersection of biodiversity conservation and infrastructure development.

Adriana’s legacy of care for her homeland extended beyond her professional work. Together with her husband, she supported a scholarship fund in Colombia, fostering the next generation of environmental stewards by funding undergraduate and graduate student theses centered on the conservation and sustainable use of Colombia’s remarkable biodiversity. Her impact continues through the lives she touched and the causes she championed.

Sheldon was an entrepreneur who co-founded a life sciences tool company, now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific. He served as an Alumni Regent of the University of California and was a trustee emeritus of the UC San Diego Foundation. An avid surfer, Sheldon remained deeply engaged with the Director’s Cabinet at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and was honored with the Chancellor’s Medal in 2011. His legacy continues through his contributions to science, education, and the ocean he loved. Sheldon had a deep love for the natural world and served on the Nature and Culture board from 2011 to 2023, including a year as Board Co-Chair 2021 – 2022.

Jane Goodall was a world-renowned primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and United Nations Messenger of Peace. She was the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots movement. Her life’s work began in Tanzania, where her pioneering study of chimpanzees transformed scientific understanding of animal behavior, social bonds, and intelligence. Widely regarded as the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, her legacy reshaped conservation and animal welfare efforts around the globe. Her dedication to science, compassion, and the natural world continues to inspire generations.

David Neill lived in Ecuador from 1985, dedicating his life to floristic research, training Ecuadorian botanists, and supporting the development of the National Herbarium of Ecuador (QCNE). He previously served as director of the Jatun Sacha Foundation, an Ecuadorian nonprofit focused on conservation, education, and research, and held a university professorship in Quito. David’s lifelong commitment to Ecuador’s biodiversity and botanical science continues to inspire future generations.

Byron Swift is an environmental lawyer, and has worked for the past four decades to conserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems in most countries of the Western hemisphere. He has served as President of Nature and Culture International, founder and President of Rainforest Trust, and head of the United States office of IUCN – the World Conservation Union. An avid birder, he graduated from Columbia Law School and Stanford University.

Ed Wilson was a renowned biologist, author and Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. He was considered the world’s foremost expert on myrmecology, or the study of ants. He was a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author known for his books ranging from biology to environmental advocacy and his secular-humanist ideas on the interplay between religion, ethics and conservation.