Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16INTERVIEW WITH Lawrence A. Selzer Lawrence A. Selzer is President and CEO of The Conservation Fund, one of the nation’s top-ranked environmental nonprofits, based in Washington, D.C. In December 2015, Larry joined the Manomet Board of Trustees. In this interview, we discuss his involvement with Manomet and his passion for working to address some of the most critical environmental challenges in our world today. How did you first become involved with Manomet? I was introduced to Manomet by my great friend Noble Proctor and after graduating from Wesleyan University, I came as an intern in the summer of 1982. I ended up staying through 1988 when I left to go to business school at the University of Virginia. During my time at Manomet, I worked on harbor seal popu- lation studies and feeding habits; the offshore population dynamics of whales, dolphins, and seabirds on the eastern continental shelf; and for two years ran the foreign fishery observer program for the eastern United States. With each of these programs, I was at the intersection of public policy, economic development, and science-based conservation and learned first-hand how they integrated, or didn’t, in high level decision-making. In your TEDx talk, you present an innovative approach to addressing some of the most pressing environmental challenges our world is facing. Would you please share a few key points from this plan? The environmental challenges we face today—things like climate change, food andwatersecurity,biodiversity,andforest conservation—are more complex than anything we have faced in the past, and the solutions we need are beyond the scope of the environmental movement acting alone. Tackling these kinds of issues will require the environmental movementtomovefaster,innovatemore, and scale up to match the magnitude of the challenges. These are skills we do not have, and yet they are found everyday in business. I believe that the environmental movement and the free enterprise system must come together to create a new environmentalism that combines the science and passion of the environmental movement with the speed, innovation, and financial sophistication of business. As President and CEO of The Conservation Fund, and as a board member of several non- profits, how do these leadership roles help you to bring forward the environmental, social, and economic changes necessary to ensure a thriving world? It is a wonderful privilege and a source of great joy to me to serve on the boards of other environmental organizations. I learn so much from other members of the board, the staff and the many stakeholders who work with each organization. I learn new ways of working with communities and how to effectively balance environmental, economic and social needs, and then I can bring that new knowledge back to my own organization to improve our own strategies and practices. And in some small way, I hope I can bring strong management skills and disciplined decision-making to the organizations on whose boards I sit. The Conservation Fund is very skilled at developing and articulating strategy and in balancing economic and environmental objectives, and these are things I encourage others to integrate into their mission. Joining us now as a member of our Board of Trustees, what do you see as Manomet’s greatest opportunities and challenges over the next three to five years to also address some of these environmental challenges? Manomet has some of the most excit- ing initiatives I have seen, so we have to operate on a larger scale. Our pro- grams with the forest products indus- try and with agricultural producers are great examples of how we bring people together to figure out how we can use natural resources without degrading them. This message will resonate with a far broader audience than we currently are reaching, and we need to figure out how to expand our network significantly. There will be challenges as we scale up, but I am confident in the leadership of the staff and board and in our ability to embrace a growth strategy and address the complexities that come with it. What excites you most about Manomet’s mission and impact in our world today? Manomet is uniquely positioned to help translate the best science into action. Few, if any, other organizations have the skills to really engage people in on- the-ground solutions. Manomet’s driving ethic allows it to create the kind of strong partnerships built on deep trust that are essential to getting things done. In an ever more polarized world, being able to work together across public, private, and nonprofit lines is the key to creating positive change. Manomet is the best of science with a strong bias toward action. That is something to be excited about! Is there anything else you would like to share? Coming back to Manomet is like coming home. Some things have changed— there is a new building, new leadership, and a new mission. But some things haven’t changed at all—a commitment to great science, engaging all stakehold- ers in crafting solutions, and a passion for making the world a better place. Manomet Partnerships for Sustainability • Spring / Summer 2016 | 11