Tensie Whelan

Tensie Whelan "serves as Executive Director of the Rainforest Alliance. She has been involved with the Rainforest Alliance since 1990, first as a board member, and then later as a consultant, becoming the executive director in 2000.

"Whelan served as the executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters from 1992 until 1997, prior to which she was Vice President of Conservation Information at the National Audubon Society. Whelan also worked as a journalist and environmental communications consultant in Costa Rica, and she was the managing editor of Ambio - an international environmental journal based in Stockholm. For several years prior to coming to the Rainforest Alliance, Whelan worked as a management consultant to various environmental and political groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Hudson River Park Alliance and the Federation of State Leagues of Conservation Voters, among others.

"Whelan's published work includes one of the first books on ecofriendly tourism, Nature Tourism: Managing for the Environment (1991, Island Press). She is the Chair of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition and served on the boards of the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and the Vermont League of Conservation Voters. She holds an M.A. in International Communication from American University's School of International Service and a B.A. in Political Science from New York University." 


 * Director, International Institute for Sustainable Development
 * NGO Advisory Council Member, World Agricultural Forum