Paige Brown
CEFG Program Director
Albert Buixadé Farré
Director of Finance and Operations
Cristina Castiglioni
Data Analysis & Member Engagement Specialist/Manager, Chile Conservation Funders
Monica Guerra
Membership Associate
Judy Hatcher
Executive Director
Lisa Pawlek Jaguzny
Director of Programs and Initiatives
Denise Luk
Special Projects Coordinator
Eliza Phillips
Program Associate
Gerald Reese
Communications & IT Specialist
Minerva Rosette Perezvargas
Mexico Conservation Funders Program Manager
Alicia Srinivas
Global Conservation Manager/Funders of the Amazon Basin Coordinator
Megan Waterman
CEFG Program Outreach Associate
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 Farré
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.
Cristina Castiglioni
Data Analysis & Member Engagement Specialist/Manager, Chile Conservation Funders
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.
Monica Guerra
Membership Associate
Monica comes from Afro Carribean roots and was born and raised in San Francisco. For the past decade she has called Los Angeles her home. As a youth, she was involved in community empowerment, and enrichment activities. In high school she interned at well known San Francisco landmarks including the Exploratorium, The de Young Museum, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Public Library, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco City Hall and other locations. Monica graduated in Communications from San Francisco State University. When she moved to Los Angeles, she gained experience working in the public and non-profit sectors. Before BFG, Monica worked at Los Angeles County as a public assistance eligibility worker, and a small claims court advisor. In her free time, Monica enjoys organizing mutual aid efforts, creating arts & crafts, hiking with her dog Daisy, and playing basketball.
Judy Hatcher
Executive Director
Judy Hatcher, Executive Director of the Biodiversity Funders Group, was first introduced to social change philanthropy when she joined the staff of the Crossroads Fund in the 1980s. She later led national grantmaking programs at the Funding Exchange and at the Environmental Support Center. She co-authored The Unfinished Civil Rights Agenda in the South, wrote Voices From the Field: Rural Organizers on What They Need From Funders, and spearheaded two other reports: We Want to Be At the Table: Helping Environmental Groups Rebuild After Katrina and Everybody’s Movement: Environmental Justice and Climate Change. Judy has served on the boards of directors of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, the Black Philanthropic Alliance, and other philanthropic institutions. She currently sits on the board of directors of Tides Advocacy.
Other previous employers include People’s Action; Amnesty International USA; the Center for Community Change; and Pesticide Action Network (PAN) North America. She has provided organizational development and fundraising consulting and training for hundreds of groups, through the Community Resource Center, the Grantsmanship Center, and as an independent contractor.
A graduate of Northwestern University, Judy has certificates in nonprofit leadership from Naropa University, Rockwood Leadership Institute, East Bay Meditation Center, and Spirit Rock. She is board treasurer of Coming Clean, Inc. and an active volunteer with the East Bay Meditation Center.
Lisa Pawlek Jaguzny
Director of Programs and Initiatives
Lisa joins the Biodiversity Funders Group as Director of Programs and Initiatives after a long career in leadership roles in various sectors of the conservation community. She has recently led Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center, where she transformed the 240 acre farm into a force for promoting climate resilient practices through regenerative agriculture and environmental stewardship. Prior to Oxbow, Lisa led the Campion Foundation where she served as CEO for nearly 10 years and created the Campion Advocacy Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit focused on protecting US public lands and fostering indigenous-led campaigns to protect Alaska’s lands and waters. Lisa served as Deputy Director for People For Puget Sound for 11 years, during which time she led the campaign that resulted in the protection of more than 1,000 miles of Puget Sound shorelines. Lisa serves as a Board Member for the Western Conservation Foundation and the Endangered Species Coalition. She holds a BA from Trinity College, and an Executive MBA Certificate from Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovation.
Denise Luk
Special Projects Coordinator
Denise promotes peer-to-peer learning and the sharing of knowledge among our foundation community at BFG. Previously, she worked at Meyer Memorial Trust funding Oregon’s environmental nonprofits as a part of the Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellowship Program. Denise spent about a decade working in the areas of animal welfare, grassroots community advocacy, and environmental and administrative law. She partnered with organizations in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide, such as the Animal Law Clinic at Lewis and Clark Law School and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project, on sustainable farming issues and fighting the abusive practices of large-scale industrial agriculture. She graduated with a J.D. from University of San Francisco School of Law and a B.A. in English from University of California, Berkeley. Denise loves to sing, create art, and explore the world with her human and canine family.
Eliza Phillips
Program Associate
Eliza comes to Biodiversity Funders Group as the Program Associate with 8 years of experience in the nonprofit space. She began her professional career at Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, where she helped open the Environmental Education Center designed to foster stewardship of the environment to people of all ages. Through this experience and others at various non-profits, including Program Officer for the Marine Conservation team at Wildlife Conservation Society, she gained crucial skills needed to coordinate events and conservation efforts. Eliza holds a BA from Colby College in Environmental Science with a concentration in Marine Science. She is passionate about protecting the environment and making positive changes in local and global communities.
Gerald Reese
Communications & IT Specialist
Gerald previously was 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 a long 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 graduate work in Media Studies. As well as having taken tech classes with the San Francisco State University's College of Extended Learning(Now the College of Professional & Global Education), and the College of Alameda. He has been active in local politics, focusing particularly in the areas of affordable housing and mass transportation.
Minerva Rosette Perezvargas
Mexico Conservation Funders Program Manager
Minerva is Mexican, with more than ten years of experience in the conservation of natural resources in collaboration with local communities; she has a vision of the environmental challenges from the national, regional, and local scale; with experience in the design and application of public policies, territorial management instruments, coastal resource management strategies and conservation from collective impact initiatives. Throughout her career, she has worked in the area of environmental impact; elaboration and revision of land use planning instruments; management of geographic information systems; design of adaptation strategies for climate change; biodiversity conservation through community development with indigenous groups and rural communities; participation in adaptation and mitigation strategies based on ecosystems, particularly on blue carbon; coordination of collective impact platforms; in addition to the accompaniment of systemic design and strategic planning processes.
Alicia Srinivas
Global Conservation Manager/Funders of the Amazon Basin Coordinator
Alicia joins BFG with over twelve years experience working in international conservation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s degree in Conservation Biology from Columbia University, where she did her thesis research on the effects of oil palm plantations on bird communities in the Peruvian Amazon. Alicia previously worked as Program Manager for the Wildlife Conservation Society (first in New York, and later at their Ecuador office), and as Associate Program Manager for the Coral Reef Alliance. From 2007 to 2009, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small, rural community on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Alicia loves animals and is passionate about birds, wildlife rehabilitation, and tropical biodiversity. She is endlessly fascinated with the Amazon region for its biological and cultural diversity, unique conservation challenges, and interconnectedness with global systems. At Biodiversity Funders Group, she devotes 80% of her time to Funders of the Amazon Basin (FAB).
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.