Jesse M Festa

About Jesse M Festa

Expertise:Over 15 years of experience in the environmental conservation and regenerative agriculture field with community-based conservation, investigation and academic research, project management, marketing and communications, strategic program coordination and leadership experience.Over seven years with The Nature Conservancy with experience in three different levels: global, regional and country program teams, most recently having served as Chief of Party for a $10M USD multi-country Program. Over two years of experience of community-based conservation living and working directly in a rural community of Guatemala. Two years of applied research investigation for dual-degree graduate studies to analyze carbon offset markets for emerging jurisdictional forest conservation schemes.

Experience

1. Global Program Director, Portfolio Management

   The Nature Conservancy

   Jan 2025 — Present · Austin, TX, US

Education

• California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Natural Resource Management, College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences

  2003 — 2008

• Colorado State University

  Master of Science (MS), Natural Resources and Conservation

  2012 — 2014

• El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR)

  Master’s Degree, Natural Resources and Conservation

  2013 — 2013

Skills

• Capacity Building
• Strategy
• Agroforestry
• Web Development
• Technical Support
• Apple
• Conservation
• Research
• Ecotourism
• Protected Areas
• Non-Profits
• Water Resources
• Jira
• Gis
• Spanish
• Reforestation
• Management
• Biodiversity
• Product Marketing
• Community Outreach
• Community Development
• Environmental Awareness
• Conservation Issues
• Sports Management
• Carbon
• Sustainability
• Environmental Policy
• Environmental Education
• Public Speaking
• Nonprofits
• Leadership
• Salesforce.com