As CEO of Wildlife Conservation Network, Jean-Gaël “JG” Collomb combines deep field experience with strategic nonprofit leadership, offering practical insight into how conservation organizations grow, fund, and sustain impact. This session examines how a small conservation organization grew into a global partner network working to protect 210+ species across 69 countries by investing in trust between donors and conservationists, partnership building across species, and field leadership. 

JG will unpack WCN’s ‘Deploy, Connect, Equip’ model and its 100% to-the-field funding structure, showing how these choices enable rapid response, resilience, and long-term impact. Drawing on concrete examples, including WCN’s ability to mobilize emergency funding when field partners faced sudden US federal foreign aid cuts, he will outline what effective and resilient conservation infrastructure looks like, why strong partner networks outperform centralized models, and what corporate leaders, philanthropists, and policymakers must understand if they want conservation investments to hold under real-world pressure.