Leadership & Board of Trustees

NRDC's leadership team and board of trustees make sure the organization works to ensure the rights of all people to a livable planet with clean air, clean water, and healthy, equitable communities.

Leadership

A headshot of Manish Bapna
Manish Bapna
President & Chief Executive Officer
A headshot of Alexandra Adams
Alexandra Adams
Chief Policy Advocacy Officer, Center for Campaigns & Organizing
A headshot of Reem Alamiri
Reem Alamiri
Chief of Strategy
A headshot of Robyn Arville
Robyn Arville
Chief People & DEI Officer
A headshot of Mitchell Bernard
Mitchell Bernard
Chief Counsel
A headshot of Susan Casey-Lefkowitz
Susan Casey-Lefkowitz
Chief of Staff
A headshot of Julie Cerqueira
Julie Cerqueira
Chief Program Officer
Yamide Dagnet
Yamide Dagnet
Senior Vice President, International
A headshot of Christy Goldfuss
Christy Goldfuss
Executive Director
A headshot of Ticora V. Jones
Dr. Ticora V. Jones
Chief Science Officer
A headshot of Melissa Lin Perella
Melissa Lin Perrella
Chief Equity & Justice Officer
A headshot of Mollie Marsh-Heine
Mollie Marsh-Heine
Chief Development Officer
A headshot of Vivek Sawhney
Vivek Sawhney
Chief Information Officer and International Operations
A headshot of Douglass Sims
Doug Sims
Managing Director, Green Finance & Economic Development
A headshot of Matthew Tejada
Matthew Tejada
Senior Vice President, Environmental Health
A headshot of Michael Wall
Michael Wall
Chief Litigation Officer
A headshot of Andrew Wetzler
Andrew Wetzler
Senior Vice President, Nature
A headshot of Kristin Wilson-Palmer
Kristin Wilson-Palmer
Chief Communications Officer
Headshot of Jackie Wong
Jackie Wong
Senior Vice President, Climate & Energy
A headshot of Jacqueline Woo
Jacqueline Woo
Chief Financial & Adminstrative Officer
A headshot of Ed Yoon
Ed Yoon
Chief External Affairs Officer

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

CHAIR
Kathleen Welch
Founder and Principal, Corridor Partners

TREASURER
Mary J. Penniman
Environmentalist; foundation director

Katherine Adams
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Apple Inc.;
President and Board Member, Beaverkill Valley Land Trust 

Richard E. Ayres
Co-Founder, NRDC; environmental attorney

Sarah E. Cogan
Of Counsel, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, New York office

Nathaniel Dean
Senior Portfolio Manager and Partner, Capula Investment Management

Leonardo DiCaprio
Founder and Co-Chairman, Earth Alliance

John E. Echohawk
Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund

Catherine C. Flowers
Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice

Jeremy Kahan
Managing Partner, North Peak Capital Management, LLC

Jo Ann Kaplan
Environmentalist

Nicole E. Lederer
Chair and Co-Founder, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)

Laura Lin
Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Actress; producer

Jennifer Morgan
Senior Fellow, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

Frederica P. Perera, Dr.P.H., Ph.D.
Professor, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health;
Founding Director, Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health;
Director, Program in Translational Research

Diana Propper de Callejon
Managing Director, Cranemere Inc.

Elena Rios, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer, National Hispanic Medical Association
President, National Hispanic Health Foundation

Dr. Allison Schwartz
Founder and CEO, Aqualateral

Tom Soto
Founder and Managing Partner, Latimer Partners, LLC 

Gerald Torres
Professor of Environmental Justice, Yale School of the Environment Studies, Yale Law School

Margret Trilli
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Impact Assets

David C. Vladeck
A.B. Chettle, Jr., Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

Carlton Waterhouse
Professor of Law, Environmental and Climate Justice Center; Director, Howard University School of Law

David F. Welch, Ph.D.
Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Infinera Corporation

Daniel Yates
Chief Executive Officer, Dandelion Geothermal

Remembering Robert Redford

For decades, the Hollywood superstar used his influence to speak truth to power and advance environmental progress.

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NRDC founding Director and President John Adams (second from left) and actor and NRDC trustee Robert Redford (right) at a meeting with the Institute of Resource Management concerning outer continental shelf drilling in Morrow Bay, California, in 1982.

Remembering Robert Redford

For decades, the Hollywood superstar used his influence to speak truth to power and advance environmental progress.

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HONORARY TRUSTEES

CHAIR EMERITUS
Alan F. Horn
Consultant to Warner Bros. Discovery

CHAIR EMERITUS
Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr.
Chief Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School; 
Senior Counsel, Cravath, Swaine and Moore, LLP

CHAIR EMERITUS
Daniel R. Tishman
Vice Chairman and Principal of Tishman Realty

John H. Adams
Founding Director, NRDC;
Chair, Open Space Institute

Frances Beinecke
President Emerita, NRDC

Anita Bekenstein
Environmentalist; Foundation Director

Anna Scott Carter
Environmentalist; Co-Founder, 'Clean by Design' Initiative

Laurie David 
Producer; Author; Advocate;
Co-Founder, NRDC Los Angeles Leadership Council 

Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D.
Chair, Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Inc.

Robert J. Fisher 
Director, Gap Inc.

Charles E. Koob
Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Philip B. Korsant
Member, Long Light Capital, LLC

Ruben Kraiem
Senior Counsel, Covington and Burling LLP

Shelly B. Malkin 
Artist; Conservationist

Kelly Chapman Meyer
Co-Founder, American Heart Association Teaching Gardens

Josephine A. Merck
Artist; Founder, Ocean View Foundation

Laurance Rockefeller
Conservationist 

Jonathan F. P. Rose
President, Jonathan Rose Companies LLC

Tom Roush, M.D.
Private Investor; Environmental Activist

Christine H. Russell, Ph.D.
Environmentalist; Foundation Director

William H. Schlesinger
President Emeritus, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

James Gustave Speth
Professor of Law, Vermont Law School;
Distinguished Senior Fellow, Demos

James Taylor 
Singer/Songwriter