Sean Stevens, Executive Director of WildEarth
WILDEARTH News:
SANTA FE — Following a national search, the Board of Directors of WildEarth Guardians is delighted to welcome Sean Stevens as the organization’s next Executive Director. The Board, led by Gay Dillingham, unanimously confirmed the selection of Stevens for this leadership position.
“I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to lead WildEarth Guardians at this critical time for the West,” Sean Stevens said, WildEarth Guardians’ new Executive Director. “It is an honor to be joining this team, whom I’ve gotten to know as a savvy and passionate group in working with Guardians as a partner. Guardians has been a leading and effective advocate for the Wild for decades, and as we face historic attacks against our Western wildlife, public lands, and communities from the Trump Administration and Congress, this organization is ready to fight back.”
“We are thrilled to have Sean on board as Executive Director,” Gay Dillingham said, WildEarth Guardians’ board president. “For more than 35 years, WildEarth Guardians has been a fierce protector of the West’s wildlife, wild places, and the communities that love them. Sean brings years of experience in the conservation movement as a leader and a partner, and we welcome his vision and tenacity at this critical time for the West and our nation.”
In his role as Executive Director, Sean will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for the organization, furthering the mission to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, and health of the American West.
Sean’s connection to wild places was formed on camping and rafting trips with his family as a child. After attending UCLA, he worked as a reading instructor in an elementary school, coached sports, and had a brief stint as a sportscaster on local TV before the pull of conservation advocacy became too strong.
Prior to Guardians, Sean spent 17 years on staff at the leading conservation organization in his home state, Oregon Wild. There he helped double the size of the organization, growing new programs in wildlife advocacy, state forest policy, and climate action. Sean started his career in conservation as a communications staffer and appeared in the New York Times, CBS News, National Public Radio, and The Economist. He served as Executive Director of Oregon Wild for 12 years, during which time the organization expanded Wilderness and Wild & Scenic River protections and led a comprehensive modernization of the state’s private logging laws to protect salmon and water quality.
Sean loves to get outside with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Bourbon, to explore hidden waterfalls, long trails where you can find solitude, and grand vistas that help remind you of your place in the world. He lives in Portland close to where he grew up and loves that amazing food, breweries, coffee, orchards, desert, ocean, ancient forests, and more are so nearby. Like so much of the West, he thinks it is worth protecting.
About WildEarth Guardians
WildEarth Guardians is a conservation nonprofit whose mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Guardians has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, and over 120,000 members and supporters worldwide.