Trillion Trees Partners
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is the world’s largest nature conservation Partnership. Together we are 115 BirdLife Partners worldwide – and growing – with 13 million members and supporters, over 7,000 local conservation groups and 7,400 staff. Through our unique local-to-global approach, we deliver high impact and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), established in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society, is a US-based non-profit conservation organization that saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. With long-term commitments in over 60 countries, WCS applies its biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships to ensure that wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities.
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
WWF is one of the world’s largest independent conservation organisations, active in nearly 100 countries. Our supporters – more than five million of them – are helping us restore nature and tackle some of the main causes of nature’s decline, particularly the food system and climate change. We want a world with thriving habitats and species, and we want to change hearts and minds so it becomes unacceptable to overuse our planet’s resources.
A dedicated core team, across three organisations
Executive Director
John Lotspeich
Executive Director, Trillion Trees
John comes to Trillion Trees with over 20 years’ policy, communications and fundraising experience, having most recently served as Senior Director of External Affairs at Marie Stopes International (MSI), the global health charity. He began his career in the private sector, specialising in marketing and communications, with postings in New York, Brussels, Delhi, Lusaka and KwaZulu Natal. He has deep experience in managing multiple-stakeholder consortia for service delivery, advocacy and financing in diverse regions around the globe.
Management Team
Bryna Griffin
Head of Forests Programme, BirdLife International
Responsible for leading Trillion Trees for BirdLife International. Over 15 years of experience in conservation of tropical landscapes, with particular expertise in the design, management and sustainable financing of protected and conserved areas.
Anna Kitulagoda
Head of Trillion Trees for WWF
Responsible for leading Trillion Trees for WWF. Over 12 years' experience working at the interface between forests and land use, livelihoods and trade to promote sustainable development. Anna's previous experience includes working with and for governments, civil society and the private sector in a number of countries worldwide.
Leonie Lawrence
Technical Advisor - Sustainable Landscapes, WCS
Responsible for leading Trillion Trees for WCS. Over seven years of experience in tropical forest conservation, with particular expertise in ‘forest risk commodities’ and supply chain transparency.
Programme Development Team
April Bagwill
Trillion Trees Programme Officer
Responsible for programmatic coordination across all three Trillion Trees partners. April has eight years experience in project and programme management in both government and charity sectors, and 15 years' experience in wildlife and habitat science and research.
Stuart Dainton
Trillion Trees Forest Specialist, WWF-UK
Responsible for new projects to deliver finance for nature, people and tackling climate change for WWF-UK, on behalf of Trillion Trees. Over 30 years experience across the public, private, military and third sector. Stuart led teams in military operations, and experienced in developing strategies, plans and communicating the delivery of programmes across the environmental sector, in waste reduction, energy efficiency and the natural environment.
Tim Rayden
Forest Programme Advisor, WCS
Responsible for developing new projects on forest protection and forest restoration from within the WCS international portfolio. Tim has over 15 years of experience in the forestry and environment sectors. He joined WCS in 2010 to help reduce the impacts of logging on wildlife in the Congo Basin, and has since specialised in sustainable landscape approaches to delivering natural climate solutions.
Katie Sims
Forests Programme Officer, BirdLife International
Responsible for forest communications, sustainable finance and the Americas portfolio for BirdLife, Katie also leads one of Trillion Tree’s flagship initiatives, the Forest Landscape Sustainability Accelerator. The Accelerator supports dedicated conservation leaders from around the world to reach their potential, build knowledge and confidence, and kick start their ideas for the future of their landscape. Katie has 10 years experience in ethical forest product supply chains, programme development and youth education.
Alice Ward-Francis
Forests Programme Officer, BirdLife International
Responsible for BirdLife's forest conservation initiatives in Africa, Alice has worked within the BirdLife International Partnership for 10 years. Alice works with BirdLife Partners on developing, promoting and fundraising for forest landscape initiatives, and across a diverse set of global themes on carbon, restoration, forest-positive commodities and sustainable finance.
Steering Committee
Richard Grimmett
Director of Conservation, BirdLife International
Richard has worked for BirdLife since 1985, including managing BirdLife’s work in Europe and Asia. As part of his role as Director of Conservation, he leads the direction of the BirdLife Forests Programme.
Damian Fleming
Director of Conservation Programmes, WWF-UK
Damian has10 years working at WWF, and is responsible for delivering WWF-UK’s programmes in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Todd Stevens
Executive Director, Conservation Science and Solutions
Todd Stevens oversees WCS's cross-cutting work on five global programs: Forests/Climate Change, Rights and Communities, Markets, Conservation Planning and Conservation science. Before coming to WCS, Todd was a Project Leader at The Boston Consulting Group, specializing in nonprofit management and strategy development for global charities. Prior to that, he worked in investment banking and private equity. Todd has a PhD in History from Princeton University.
Peter Cole
Director and Trustee, Restore Our Planet
Restore UK was established in 2001 as a grant-making charity to invest in the protection and restoration of Britain’s natural habitat. This vision has since expanded to incorporate environmental and biodiversity issues globally. To reflect this broader vision Restore UK changed its name to Restore Our Planet in 2018.
