The Wilburforce Conservation Leadership Award is part of a series of grants to individuals that is intended to honor exceptional leadership in the conservation movement. As part of its existing grantmaking, Wilburforce Foundation devotes a substantial part of its resources to assisting organizations in developing and strengthening their administrative, strategic and programmatic capabilities. With this award, we are extending our support to provide recognition to the hard-working individuals who help lead those organizations.

The Conservation Leadership Award includes a cash award of US $7,500 to the individual, plus an accompanying US $5,000 to the organization where the recipient works. There are no stipulations attached to the award. "It's our wish that the recipients use the funds however they'd like," says Tim Greyhavens, Executive Director of the Foundation. "This award truly is for the individual as our way of recognizing outstanding dedication and extraordinary efforts."

Recipients of the Conservation Leadership Award are selected by the Board of Directors of Wilburforce Foundation from among our existing grantees. There is no recommendation or application process for the award.

2008 Award Winners
(Previous Winners)

February 2008
Nicole Rycroft (Vancouver, BC)
Nicole Rycroft is the Founder and Executive Director of Markets Initiative, an organization working to safeguard the world’s endangered forests and biodiversity by by increasing corporate demand for and use of ecologically sustainable paper products. Her work has helped protect special places like British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest by transforming the purchasing practices of heavy paper consuming sectors. Nicole is an Ashoka fellow and was awarded a Gold Medal Canadian Environment Award in 2006. She has worked as an advocate for social and environmental justice in Australia, South East Asia and Canada, and brings a global perspective to the protection of ancient and endangered forest ecosystems. Originally from Down Under, Nicole has modified her speech patterns to be generally understood by North Americans. In her free time she enjoys being out in the world around her, be it: absorbing a city’s culture, biking through the urban landscape, or skiing, hiking and surfing beyond its confines.

(Previous Winners)

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