Althea is committed to ensuring that women, Indigenous peoples, and other groups that experience discrimination and marginalization can participate in and benefit from WWF’s conservation initiatives. Beyond taking a human-rights-based approach to conservation, inclusive conservation also means: supporting processes inclusive of the multi-sector actors necessary to sustain the planet’s biodiversity; equitably navigating the trade-offs that inherently presents; and constantly learning with other stakeholders and adapting to the complexity of the linked systems in which we intervene. In Althea’s cross-cutting role, she offers thought leadership and systems thinking, strategic planning and facilitation, as well as capacity strengthening and social science research skills to WWF staff and diverse partners in service of more equitable processes and sustainable outcomes for people and nature.
As part of WWF-US core safeguards team, she led the rollout and supports the ongoing implementation of WWF’s environmental and social safeguards framework across WWF-US managed landscapes and with Country Offices. From the Arctic and the Northern Great Plains to Central and South America, Althea works with land- and seascape teams to identify and mitigate social and environmental risks in their project portfolios. She brings to bear her social expertise to inform social analysis and stakeholder engagement planning aimed at safeguarding the rights of local communities and Indigenous people.
Althea also spearheads project design, monitoring, evaluation, and learning for the CARE-WWF Alliance. Since 2008, CARE and WWF have worked together in East Africa to test and scale-up models that break the vicious cycle of natural resource degradation, poverty, and inequality. Althea supports CARE and WWF colleagues to develop integrated interventions, monitor their implementation, reflect on field experience, synthesize lessons learned, and communicate results. Althea is passionate about sharing integrated approaches that can empower women and the under-resourced to manage natural resources more sustainably and to adapt to climate change in ways that protect human rights and secure the livelihoods of present and future generations.
Althea holds a Master’s degree in International Development from American University and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Rice University. A lifelong learner, she recently completed several courses on systems transformation and leadership. Althea is an active organizer of WWF’s internal Environmental Justice Speakers Series and sits on the advisory group for the WWF Advancing Racial Equity Project. Outside of work, she can be found in the dance studio or exploring the great outdoors with her wife and dog.
