Kristen Walker Painemilla
Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Center for Communities and Conservation
To further Conservation International’s mission, Kristen provides institutional leadership and comprehensive technical assistance on a range of social and international policies related to Indigenous peoples and local communities, gender, human rights-based approaches and social safeguards, as well as engagements with the peace and development community.
Throughout her career, Kristen has led efforts on behalf of Conservation International and the conservation community to engage Indigenous peoples and local communities more effectively in conservation through a human rights-based approach. In 2003, Kristen created the Indigenous and Traditional Peoples Program to consolidate Conservation International's work with community partners, as well as to strengthen the collective capacity of Indigenous peoples and Conservation International to achieve mutual goals.
In 2021, Kristen was elected to a second four-year term as Chair of the Commission on Environment, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The commission promotes research and policies to balance nature conservation with socioeconomic and cultural concerns.
Kristen has also led efforts on behalf of Conservation International to form the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights, a consortium of international conservation NGOs that seek to integrate human rights in conservation policy and practice. She is the author of the book “Indigenous Peoples and Conservation: From Rights to Resource Management,” which draws from her years of experience working with Indigenous peoples.
Kristen holds a degree in Latin American Studies and Anthropology from George Washington University. She was a Cotlow Scholar in 1996, a Fulbright Scholar in 1997-1998 and is a Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program. She serves on several boards, including the Equator Initiative, the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force and the Chol-Chol Foundation.
To further Conservation International’s mission, Kristen provides institutional leadership and comprehensive technical assistance on a range of social and international policies related to Indigenous peoples and local communities, gender, human rights-based approaches and social safeguards, as well as engagements with the peace and development community.
Throughout her career, Kristen has led efforts on behalf of Conservation International and the conservation community to engage Indigenous peoples and local communities more effectively in conservation through a human rights-based approach. In 2003, Kristen created the Indigenous and Traditional Peoples Program to consolidate Conservation International's work with community partners, as well as to strengthen the collective capacity of Indigenous peoples and Conservation International to achieve mutual goals.
In 2021, Kristen was elected to a second four-year term as Chair of the Commission on Environment, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The commission promotes research and policies to balance nature conservation with socioeconomic and cultural concerns.
Kristen has also led efforts on behalf of Conservation International to form the Conservation Initiative on Human Rights, a consortium of international conservation NGOs that seek to integrate human rights in conservation policy and practice. She is the author of the book “Indigenous Peoples and Conservation: From Rights to Resource Management,” which draws from her years of experience working with Indigenous peoples.
Kristen holds a degree in Latin American Studies and Anthropology from George Washington University. She was a Cotlow Scholar in 1996, a Fulbright Scholar in 1997-1998 and is a Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program. She serves on several boards, including the Equator Initiative, the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force and the Chol-Chol Foundation.