Working for an environmental nonprofit can be lucrative — especially if you’re the boss.
Many of the leaders of major environmental and conservation groups take home annual compensation packages in the high six figures, according to tax documents nonprofits are required to release publicly.
The heads of influential groups including the World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense Fund and Nature Conservancy are among the top-paid leaders in the environmental movement, according to an E&E News analysis of 29 groups’ most recent tax filings.
Green groups’ 990 tax filings reveal how much leaders and other top employees earn in salaries and other benefits each year. The nonprofits’ most recent publicly available documents detail employees’ pay for calendar years 2021 or 2022.
Here’s how much environmental and conservation group bosses made in base pay and total compensation, which can include bonuses, retirement pay and other benefits:
1. Carter Roberts, president and CEO, World Wildlife Fund
Roberts, who has led the massive international conservation group since 2005, remains one of the environmental world’s top-paid leaders. His base pay in 2022 was $904,841, according to the World Wildlife Fund’s tax records. Roberts’ total reported compensation that year was $1,204,775.
2. Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund
EDF’s leader of nearly four decades took home base pay of $669,771 in 2021, the group’s records show. Krupp’s total compensation that year was $922,022.
3. Jennifer Morris, CEO, the Nature Conservancy
Morris, who started as the conservation group’s CEO in May 2020, earned $732,138 in base pay during her first full year on the job in 2021, the tax filing shows. Her total compensation that year was $758,013.
4. Elizabeth Gray, CEO, National Audubon Society
Gray was promoted in November 2021 to become the group’s permanent CEO. Her base pay that year was $462,069; her total compensation was $705,458. Her pay that year included a contractual retention and sign-on bonus, the tax filing says. She also received a discretionary bonus of $46,514 approved by the board of directors.
(Gray’s predecessor, David Yarnold, left in May 2021. His total compensation that year was $1,276,173, including severance and other benefits.)
5. Mitchell Bernard, interim president, Natural Resources Defense Council
NRDC’s then-Executive Director Bernard stepped in to lead the group in early 2021 when Gina McCarthy left her post as president and CEO to join the Biden White House. Bernard held the role through August of that year and is now NRDC’s chief counsel. His base pay in 2021 was $479,498, the records show. His total compensation that year was $705,195.
6. Janis Searles Jones, CEO, Ocean Conservancy
Jones has led the ocean conservation group since 2017. Her base compensation in 2022 was $440,860, the latest filing shows. Her total compensation that year was $692,836.
7. Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO, Defenders of Wildlife
Clark, who has led her conservation group since 2011, said she plans to step down this year. In 2022, Clark’s base pay was $531,907, according to the group’s most recent tax filing. Her total compensation was $616,137.
8. Andrew Sharpless, CEO, Oceana
Sharpless has served as the international conservation group’s president since 2003, and recently announced plans to retire. His base pay in 2022 was $499,936, and his total compensation that year was $546,078. Jim Simon, Oceana’s longtime president, will take over as the organization’s CEO on July 1.
9. Adam Putnam, CEO, Ducks Unlimited
The former Florida Republican congressman has led the conservation group since 2019. His base pay was $339,805 in 2021, and his total compensation that year was $538,303.
10. Abbie Dillen, president, Earthjustice
Dillen took over as the green group’s leader in 2018. She earned base pay of $473,920 in 2021, and a total compensation package of $536,931.
11. Theresa Pierno, president and CEO, National Parks Conservation Association
Pierno has been with the conservation group since 2004 and took the helm in 2015. Her base pay in 2021 was $417,327, and her total compensation was $536,031, the tax filing shows.
13. Diane Regas, president and CEO, Trust for Public Land
Regas, who joined the conservation group in 2018, earned base pay of $499,283 in 2021, the tax records show. Her total compensation that year: $526,879.
14. Santiago Gowland, CEO, Rainforest Alliance
Gowland joined the global conservation nonprofit as CEO in May 2021. During his first full year on the job, his base pay in 2022 was $430,794. His total compensation that year was $502,967.
15. Christopher Wood, president and CEO, Trout Unlimited
Wood has led the fisheries conservation organization since 2010. His base pay in 2021 was $361,632, and his total compensation that year was $441,847, according to the organization’s most recent 990.
16. Jamie Williams, president, the Wilderness Society
Williams took the helm of the conservation group in 2012 and announced that he plans to step down later this year. Williams’ base pay in 2021 was $395,476, and his total compensation that year was $415,400.
17. Collin O’Mara, president, National Wildlife Federation
O’Mara, who’s running to be governor of Delaware, took over as president of his conservation group in 2014. His base pay in 2021 was $302,096, and his total compensation that year was $385,173, according to the most recent tax record.
18. Kieran Suckling, president, Center for Biological Diversity
Suckling, who co-founded his environmental group in 1989, earned $332,979 in base pay in 2022, the tax filings show. His total compensation that year was $384,131, according to the most recent 990. Suckling’s pay that year included a one-time buyout of unused sabbatical that was available to staff, according to the group.
19. Ken Cook, president, Environmental Working Group
Cook, president and co-founder of the environmental group, earned base pay in 2022 of $312,714. His total compensation that year: $357,378.
20. Gene Karpinski, president, League of Conservation Voters
Karpinski earned $201,923 in base pay in 2022 and $221,244 in total compensation, from LCV. He earned additional pay as president of the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, an affiliate of LCV: $$108,728 in base pay and $119,131 in total compensation. His total compensation from the two groups: $340,375.
21. Ebony Twilley Martin, co-executive director, Greenpeace USA
Twilley Martin was appointed as Greenpeace USA’s co-executive director in September, 2021. Twilley Martin is now the group’s sole executive director. In 2022, her base pay was $147,165 from Greenpeace Inc. and her compensation was $165,384 from that group. Martin also received pay that year from Greenpeace Fund of $147,168, with total compensation of $165,348. Her total combined compensation from the groups: $330,732.
22. Annie Marie Leonard, co-executive director, Greenpeace USA
Leonard served as co-executive director at Greenpeace USA from 2014 until 2023. She earned base pay of $147,035 in 2022 from Greenpeace Inc. and total compensation from that group of $164,413. Leonard’s base pay from Greenpeace Fund was $147,035, and her total compensation was $164,413. Leonard’s total combined compensation that year was $328,826.
23. Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Fosburgh led the conservation group for 13 years until he resigned late last year. His base pay in 2022 was $237,115, and his total compensation that year was $315,829, according to the organization’s most recent 990.
24. Manish Bapna, CEO, World Resources Institute
Bapna, who joined NRDC as president and CEO in August 2021, spent part of that year as interim president and CEO at World Resources Institute. His base compensation that year was $257,607, and his total compensation that year was $290,466, WRI’s tax records show.
25. Johanna Chao Kreilick, president, Union of Concerned Scientists
Kreilick joined UCS in May 2021. Her base pay for the remainder of that calendar year was $265,284, and her total compensation was $278,357, the records show. Kreilick resigned earlier this year and was replaced by acting President Kim Waddell.
26. May Boeve, executive director, 350.org
Boeve, who has spent 13 years as 350.org’s executive director, announced last week that she’s stepping down and that the organization is looking for a new leader to take over later this year. Boeve’s base pay in 2021 was $151,422, and her total compensation that year was $178,205, according to the group’s most recent 990.
27. Erich Pica, president, Friends of the Earth
Pica has led his environmental organization since 2009. His base pay in 2021 was $168,750. His total compensation that year: $177,744, according to the organization’s most recent 990.
28. Wendy Wendlandt, president, Environment America
Wendlandt, whose group is part of the Public Interest Network, received $126,073 in salary in 2021 and total compensation of $136,870 from the network, according to the latest tax filings.
29. Dan Chu, interim executive director, Sierra Club
Chu, the executive director of the Sierra Club Foundation, stepped in as Sierra Club’s interim executive director when Michael Brune left the post in 2021. Chu was acting executive director until Sept. 3, 2022, according to the group’s tax filing. His base pay from Sierra Club was $86,435 in 2022, the tax filing shows, and his total compensation that year was $90,919.
30. Varshini Prakash, executive director, Sunrise Movement
Prakash — who stepped down last year as the Sunrise Movement’s executive director — was replaced by Aru Shiney-Ajay. In 2022, Prakash’s base pay from the Sunrise Movement was $24,779, and her total compensation from that group was $27,013. Additionally, Prakash’s base pay was $57,817 from the affiliated Sunrise Movement Education Fund, and her total compensation from that group was $63,030. Prakash’s combined compensation from those two groups in 2022 was $90,043.
