Nick Hardigg

Nick Hardigg joined the Alaska Conservation Foundation "as executive director in January 2007. Originally from New Hampshire, he received a bachelor's degree with honors (Sigma Xi) in environmental science from Wesleyan University and an MBA focusing on nonprofit management from Yale University. While at Wesleyan, Nick developed his penchant for innovation by developing Connecticut's first statewide acid rain monitoring network--raising conservation awareness, collecting valuable data, and cutting costs by involving middle school science classes. Nick's passion for conservation then brought him to EarthVision, a fledgling video production company founded to increase Earth awareness, where his work received two Telly Awards and began his love for Alaska during filming of a scientific expedition to the Arctic. Nick first moved to Alaska in 1998; while studying for his MBA, an internship with the National Parks Conservation Association brought him to Denali to write the park's business plan. In 1999, he became Denali National Park's chief of business and concessions management, where his accomplishments included expanding the role of nonprofit partnerships, including creation of the Murie Science and Learning Center. Nick also launched Denali's Alaska Native interpretation program, currently viewed by over 100,000 visitors per year. In 2002, Nick was promoted to oversee the largest concession program in the National Park System ($130 million annually) at Grand Canyon National Park. Seeing greater potential for conservation impact in the nonprofit sector, Nick declined an offer to direct concessions operations for the National Park Service, and joined the The Nature Conservancy in Oregon in 2004. Nick and his wife, Karen (a former ACF intern), longed for the right opportunity to return to Alaska."