Judy Hatcher
Executive Director
William Hull
Deputy Director
Paige Brown
CEFG Program Director
Albert Buixadé Ferré
Director of Finance and Operations
Eglé Flores
Mexico Conservation Funders Program Manager
Amanda Hooker
Funders of the Amazon Basin Program Manager
Megan Waterman
CEFG Program Outreach Associate
Gerald Reese
Communications & IT Specialist
Cristina Castiglioni
Program Assistant
Judy Hatcher
Executive Director
Judy began working with community organizing and social justice groups in Chicago in the 1980s, before serving as a public information officer and a regional director at Amnesty International USA, a development officer at the Center for Community Change, and an organizational consultant to scores of nonprofits around the country. She was executive director at the Environmental Support Center, and executive director of Pesticide Action Network (PAN) North America. Judy was first introduced to philanthropy while on the staff of the Crossroads Fund. Later she led the national grantmaking program at the Funding Exchange and served on the boards of directors of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, the Black Philanthropic Alliance and other philanthropic institutions. She is currently vice-chair of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation.Besides the Noyes Foundation board, Judy also serves on the boards of Commonweal (Bolinas, CA), and Coming Clean, Inc. A graduate of Northwestern University, Judy has certificates in nonprofit leadership from Naropa University, Rockwood Leadership Institute, and the East Bay Meditation Center.
William Hull
Deputy Director
Bill has primary responsibility for working with representatives of approximately 100 grantmaking institutions on global terrestrial and marine conservation issues. He staffs the Land & Freshwater Conservation Program, the Marine Conservation Program, and the Conservation Science Program. He also assists in planning and conducting briefings for grantmakers on a wide range of biodiversity conservation issues, including the Biodiversity Funders Group Annual Meeting. Prior to joining the Biodiversity Funders Group, Bill was a program manager at the Council of State Governments and held positions with the US government and the State of Utah. He has academic degrees in both natural resources management and business administration
Paige Brown
CEFG Program Director
Paige Brown is the Program Director for the Climate and Energy Funders Group at Biodiversity Funders Group where she works with funders to facilitate collaboration and expand the field of climate and energy philanthropy. Paige Brown most recently served as the Senior Program Manager for the Natural Assets and Environmental Equity program at the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) where she focused on natural asset-based strategies that both improve environmental stewardship and promote economic development. Previously, she was the Climate Change Program Director at Redefining Progress (RP), where she led the successful effort to promote auctioning permits under trading, rather than giveaways. Before RP, Ms. Brown was a research analyst at the World Resources Institute, where she worked on incentive-based measures for biodiversity protection. Ms. Brown served as a lead author on an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on the role of forests and land use change in climate change, which led to her receiving a share of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Albert Buixadé Ferré
Director of Finance and Operations
Albert holds a BA in Business Administration, a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and is a Certified Public Accountant. As a management and administration professional he has several years of experience in public and private accounting, primarily serving non-profit organizations. He has also worked in corporate governance, investment management, and organizational development. As an international relations practitioner his goal is to develop and synthesize an understanding of the interdependencies of economic development, international politics, energy, human rights, and environment, with the purpose of shaping better policymaking and resource allocation. He leads New Economy initiatives at Biodiversity Funders Group.
Eglé Flores
Mexico Conservation Funders Program Manager
Eglé is a biologist with 10 years experience in the design and management of collective impact initiatives. Before joining the Biodiversity Funders Group, she worked as Regional Coordinator at Fundación Ciudadanía Inteligente (FCI), where she led the transfer of advocacy abilities and tools to over 130 activists and decision makers in 10 Latin American countries through the School of Advocacy and LabCívico methodologies. Eglé also co-led the Kanan Kay Alliance, a multisectoral collaboration initiative that achieved official protection of 16,000 hectares of marine ecosystems in the Mexican Caribbean. She has worked as Organizational Development Coordinator in Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI) and as Program Officer at the Mesoamerican Reef Leadership Program. Eglé is an active member at the boards of COBI and FCI. She has special interest in sharing diversity, equity and inclusion good practices at her work spaces.
Amanda Hooker
Funders of the Amazon Basin Program Manager
Amanda received a dual M.A. in Latin American Studies and Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico. Before that, she spent four years in Colombia working with Peace Brigades International and Witness for Peace. Her Master’s thesis research focused on the social and environmental effects of the North American mining industry in a fragile wetland ecosystem in Colombia.
Megan Waterman
CEFG Program Outreach Associate
Megan joins the Biodiversity Funders Group following her work with a range of global and domestic NGO’s in both policy oriented and philanthropic roles focusing on strategic partnerships, programmatic preparedness and fund development. With a strong knowledge of environmental policy and international doctrines, Megan holds a master’s in Environment and Development from the University of Edinburgh as well as a bachelor’s in communication studies from the University of San Francisco. She has extensive experience working with foundations and individual donors as well as deep research on urban mobility in Indian megacities. Through her work, Megan continues to explore the inter-dependencies between pressing environmental concerns and present-day development pressures, especially as they relate to climate change and energy demand.
Gerald Reese
Communications & IT Specialist
Gerald until recently concurrently worked as the facility manager/ webmaster with the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. He also spent several years as the webmaster for the Oakland Museum of California, as well as various roles with the City of Oakland. Prior to becoming interested in technology and design, Gerald had an over 20 year career in professional theater, including serving as the production manager for the University of Delaware's Professional Theater Training Program, as well as the Oakland Ensemble Theater. He has a BA in Theater/Film production from Columbia College Chicago, and has done postgraduate work in Media Studies. He has recently been active in local politics, focusing particularly in the areas of affordable housing and mass transportation.
Cristina Castiglioni
Program Assistant
Cristina first joined Biodiversity Funders Group as an Intern while completing her master’s degree in International Relations at San Francisco State University. During her graduate studies, Cristina paid particular attention to the intrinsic connection of environmental issues as they relate to economic development with a specific focus on conflict outbursts in Colombia and the Middle East. In addition to her master’s degree, she holds a bachelor of the arts in Languages and Literature from the University of Milan and is proficient in Italian, Spanish and German. Cristina is particularly interested in animal welfare and in further exploring the connections between current environmental issues and our global economic system.