Tensie Whelan (Change.org

Tensie Whelan

President, Rainforest Alliance

Causes: Environment, Education, Global Health, Global Poverty, Global Warming, Human Rights, Sustainable Food, Wildlife, Women's Rights

Profile Views: 10,453

Tensie Whelan serves as the president 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 has been working in the environmental field for more than 25 years, during which time she served as the vice president of conservation information at the National Audubon Society and executive director of the New York League of Conservation Voters. Whelan also worked as a journalist and environmental communications consultant in Costa Rica, and was the managing editor of Ambio -- an international environmental journal based in Stockholm. Prior to joining the Rainforest Alliance as its executive director, Whelan worked as a management consultant to nonprofit organizations such as the Environmental Defense Fund.

Whelan serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition and Social Accountability International, is a member of the advisory board for corporate social responsibility at Fortis, as well as the sustainable agriculture advisory board for Unilever, sits on the governing body of the U.N. Foundation's World Heritage Alliance, and is the co-chair of the steering committee of the Sustainable Food Lab. 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. Whelan's published work includes one of the first books on ecofriendly tourism, Nature Tourism: Managing for the Environment (1991, Island Press).

Suggest an edit / addition to this bio »

Promote this Nomination

You have 10 Votes remaining

About the Changemakers Network

The Changemakers initiative aims to identify and engage the leading activists, elected officials, authors, bloggers, actors, musicians and thought leaders who have the greatest capacity to spark change on issues of importance. Read more »