Patricia Zurita
Chief Strategy Officer
Zurita first joined Conservation International in 2003, working for seven years on projects related to policy and economics in the Andes region and leading the organization’s Conservation Stewards program. She returned to Conservation International in 2023 to serve in this new strategic leadership position.
During her hiatus from Conservation International, Zurita was director of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (a joint program with Conservation International, the World Bank, the French Development Agency, the European Union and the government of Japan). She then served as chief executive officer for BirdLife International, helming the organization for eight years and becoming the first woman from a developing country to lead an international conservation NGO.
Zurita earned her master’s degree in environmental management and natural resource economics from Duke University and her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
A native Ecuadorian, Zurita is now based with her husband and twin daughters in Conservation International’s Arlington office.
Zurita first joined Conservation International in 2003, working for seven years on projects related to policy and economics in the Andes region and leading the organization’s Conservation Stewards program. She returned to Conservation International in 2023 to serve in this new strategic leadership position.
During her hiatus from Conservation International, Zurita was director of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (a joint program with Conservation International, the World Bank, the French Development Agency, the European Union and the government of Japan). She then served as chief executive officer for BirdLife International, helming the organization for eight years and becoming the first woman from a developing country to lead an international conservation NGO.
Zurita earned her master’s degree in environmental management and natural resource economics from Duke University and her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Universidad San Francisco de Quito.
A native Ecuadorian, Zurita is now based with her husband and twin daughters in Conservation International’s Arlington office.