Jenny Springer
Director, Global Programme on Governance and Rights
Photo: Jenny Springer
Expertise: Indigenous and community land rights, community-based natural resource management, social dimensions of conservation
Language: English
Location: Washington, DC, United States of America
Contact: press@iucn.org
Jenny Springer is Director of IUCN’s Global Programme on Governance and Rights. Her responsibilities include ensuring coherence and integrity in IUCN’s governance and rights activities and interventions, and providing guidance and support for the inclusion of governance and rights issues in the IUCN Programme.
Jenny is an anthropologist with over 20 years of experience working on indigenous and community land rights, community-based natural resource management, and social dimensions of conservation. In her previous role as Chair of the IUCN CEESP Theme on Governance, Equity and Rights, Jenny played a lead role in the development of the IUCN Natural Resource Governance Framework. From 2013 to 2015, she was Director of Global Programs at the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), where she oversaw RRI's global analytical and policy engagement work. Prior to joining RRI, Jenny was Senior Director for People and Conservation at WWF-US, where she led policies and programmes on indigenous peoples and rights-based approaches to conservation, and was a co-founder of the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights. Jenny’s work on community tenure, natural resource management and poverty reduction includes experience across Africa, Asia and Latin America. She has conducted field research in South India and the Philippines, served in the Peace Corps in Ifugao (Philippines), and holds degrees from Harvard and the University of Chicago.
Kristen Walker
Chair of IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy
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Expertise: Biodiversity, climate change, sustainable development, social policy, indigenous peoples and communities, rights based approaches, social safeguards and equity, gender, livelihoods and protected areas
Language: English, Spanish
Location: United States of America
Contact: press@iucn.org
Chair of IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) since 2016, Kristen provides institutional leadership and comprehensive technical assistance on a range of international policy and social issues. The commission promotes research and policies to balance nature conservation with socioeconomic and cultural concerns.
Throughout her career, Kristen has led efforts in the conservation community to engage indigenous peoples and local communities more effectively in conservation through a human rights-based approach. In 2003, Kristen created the Indigenous and Traditional Peoples Program to consolidate Conservation International’s work with key community partners, as well as to strengthen the collective capacity of indigenous and traditional peoples and CI to achieve mutual goals.
Kristen led efforts to form the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights - improve the practice of conservation by promoting integration of human rights in conservation policy and practice. She is the author of the book "Indigenous Peoples and Conservation: From Rights to Resource Management," drawn from her years of experience working with indigenous peoples.
