CEPF Secretariat

Olivier joined CEPF as its executive director in 2015. He previously spent three years with Island Conservation as the director of global affairs; 11 years with Conservation International, working first as the senior vice president in charge of the Africa and Madagascar Program and then as the executive vice-president in the Center for Conservation and Government; and 14 years with WWF in Madagascar and in Central Africa. Olivier holds a master of science in zoology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He is an expert on the birds of the southwest Indian Ocean.

Prior to joining CEPF as finance manager in 2020, Fiker worked for 10 years at John Snow Inc., supporting mostly USAID-funded projects in financial management, administration and compliance. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, University College. 

Pierre is an agronomist and expert in biodiversity conservation. He worked for 10 years with several international institutions, including the European Commission, on programs for nature conservation, especially in the Congo Basin. Through his assignments he has supported grassroots organizations from the Maldives to South Africa, Haiti, Laos, Liberia and Kazakhstan. From 2010 to 2014, he served as advisor to the executive director of CEPF. He is now grant director for the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot, and is based in France.

Céline joined CEPF in 2016. She has more than 10 years' experience providing support to teams and programs in the nonprofit and private sectors. Céline has always been fascinated with Latin America, its cultures and forest. She has traveled numerous times to South America, backpacking her way through its different climates, sharing life with local populations, and discovering simplicity and passion for their environment. She holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology and a master's in natural resources.

Nina joined CEPF in 2001 and previously served as both a grant director and managing director. In addition to her current focus on monitoring and evaluation, Nina is developing a comprehensive learning program that will lead to increased capacity of CEPF’s grantees. With an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Harvard and a master’s in forest science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Nina started her career with a focus on ethnobotany and plant trade. She spent nearly 12 years working on wildlife trade issues for several different organizations. 

Priscila joined CEPF in 2020 and serves as the grants manager for the Cerrado, Wallacea and East Melanesian Islands biodiversity hotspots. She was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, and moved to Washington, D.C., in 2006. Priscila has a master's in global affairs from George Mason University where she focused on both the human and economic aspects of international development. Prior to joining CEPF, Priscila worked as a state policy analyst for the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute.

Florencia provides direct support to the grants and contracts team for the Indo-Burma and Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspots. Prior to joining CEPF, Florencia worked for World Resources Institute (WRI) as a grants and contracts specialist, overseeing the financial and compliance management of its grants, contracts and cooperative agreements. Prior to WRI, she  worked for two consulting firms—Chemonics and DAI—supporting financial, administrative and contractual activities for USAID-funded projects. Florencia is originally from Argentina.

Julie joined the CEPF communications team as a writer/editor in 2008, and became communications director in 2010. Prior to working with CEPF, she was an editor for the Washington Examiner newspaper in Washington, D.C., and she also previously worked for the National Groundwater Association. Julie has a master of science in journalism from Ohio University and a bachelor of arts in English literature from Miami University, with a minor in Spanish. For her master’s program, Julie traveled to Uganda in 2004 to work as a writer and editor for the Ugandan newspaper The Weekly Observer.

Michele joined CEPF in 2001. She is currently the grant director for the Tropical Andes and Caribbean Islands hotspots, and has previously overseen several portfolios in the Americas. Prior to joining CEPF, Michele worked on assignments for USAID and the World Bank, with expertise in biodiversity conservation, coastal zone management, natural disaster prevention, and monitoring and evaluation. Her degrees in international environmental policy and the environmental science are from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry.