By Robin Bravender
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.
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.
#
