Our Staff
Vance G. Martin, President
Vance joined WILD as president in 1984 after 15
years in international business and non-profit management.
An innovative leader known for bridging the interests of
people and nature, he has lived extensively overseas, worked
in over 40 countries, and helped to establish many
non-profits. He serves on the boards of numerous
organizations such as the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Friends
of Peace Parks, Conservation & Preservation Charities of
America, Fulcrum Publishing, Wilderness Foundation (South
Africa), Wilderness Foundation (UK), and others. He is also
the founder and current co-chairman of the IUCN Wilderness
Task Force, and has edited and authored many publications. A
native of the U.S. Piedmont region, he graduated magna cum
laude from West Virginia University
Cyril Kormos, Vice President for Policy
Mr. Kormos holds a B.A. in English from the University of
California at Berkeley, an M.Sc. in Politics of the World
Economy from the London School of Economics, and a J.D. from
the George Washington University Law School. Mr. Kormos
served on the editorial boards of the LSE’s Millennium
Journal of International Studies, and GWU’s The
Environmental Lawyer.
Mr. Kormos is currently Vice President for Policy at The
WILD Foundation where he is leading an initiative entitled
“The Wild Planet Project: Making the Case for Wilderness,
Wildlands, and People”. The initiative is implemented with a
number of WILD’s partners and was launched at the 8th World
Wilderness Congress: its objective is to assemble the most
up to date information and tools for wilderness conservation
for presentation at the World Wilderness Congress (WWC). Mr.
Kormos was a member of the executive committee for the 8th
WWC, and will be on the executive committee for the 9th WWC.
He is also a member of, and helps manage the IUCN-WCPA
Wilderness Task Force, which is co-Chaired by WILD. He has
recently co-edited four books, Transboundary Conservation: A
New Vision for Protected Areas (Cemex, Inc. 2005), The Human
Footprint, Challenges for Wilderness and Biodiversity (Cemex,
Inc. 2006), Wilderness, Wildlands and People: A Partnership
for the Planet – Proceedings of the 8th World Wilderness
Congress (Fulcrum Publishing, in press) and A Handbook for
International Wilderness Law and Policy (Fulcrum Publishing,
in press).
Prior to coming to The WILD Foundation, Mr. Kormos worked
for Conservation International for six years. His last
position at CI was Senior Director for Program Management in
the President’s Office. Prior to that position, Mr. Kormos
held the positions of Staff Attorney, and then Director of
CI’s Policy Program.
Valerie Purvis, Operations and Finance Manager
Valerie has been with the WILD Foundation over five years,
electing to relocate from her beloved home state of
California. After a couple years of college and subsequent
years as a Technical Secretary in Cal Tech’s Chemistry
Department, typing and illustrating for scientific journals
like Nature, Science and Biochemistry, she advanced to
become the Department Technical Illustrator, drawing for
Professors of Chemistry, Biology and Chemical Engineering,
subsequently opening and operating a Sole Proprietorship ‘Sci-Tech
Illustration’ designing business cards and advertisements as
well. One Emeritus Professor began an R&D Venture Capital
based Biomedical Start-Up, utilizing Valerie’s
organizational skills where she acquired her self-taught
accounting skills. Today, as WILD’s Operations & Finance
Manager, she enjoys the challenges of the non-profit sector
and its impressive world of environmentally-minded
conservationists who strive to secure a future for our planet
and all its inhabitants. She’s an avid gardener and yearns
to write and illustrate children’s books one day.
Emily Loose, Outreach and Communication Director
Prior to joining the WILD family, Emily worked with several
non-profits including Thorne Ecological Institute in
Colorado and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc in New York.
A Pennsylvania native, Emily completed her B.A. in 2003 at
Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York and is currently
enrolled at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, pursuing a
Master of Nonprofit Management degree. She anticipates
graduating from Regis in December, 2007. An active
Boulderite, Emily spends her weekends and evenings running,
training for triathlons, hiking in the mountains,
snowboarding, cooking, spending time with family and playing
with her big hound dog, Stout.
Julie Dunn, Director of Program Development
Her primary focus of work has been to create development
strategies and design fundraising approaches.. Being based
in Washington, D.C., she serves as liaison to the federal
agencies, including U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National
Park Service, USDA Forest Service, and others. She also
established a new individual donor program for WILD. The 8th
World Wilderness Congress was her largest development
project to date, and she also works on The Mali Elephants
Project, Zakouma Elephants Project (Chad) and Zulu Village
Project.
Julie also serves as U.S. Program Director for the
Wilderness Foundation South Africa. She also writes and
assists with development strategies for the International
Conservation Caucus Foundation. In addition, she has 12
years of experience working at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture on alternative/organic agriculture and for other
conservation NGOs, such as sustainable forestry and wildlife
conservation groups. She managed the North American Save the
Rhinos Campaign involving zoos and corporations for 3 years.
She has Masters degree in International Development from
Stanford University and a Bachelors degree in Political
Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Dana Guppy, Chief Technology Officer
Dana Guppy has been associated with the WILD Foundation for
over twenty years. Dana was a member of the Board of
Advisers for the 5th World Wilderness Congress and since
1994 has been responsible for the development and
maintenance of WILD’s websites and messaging. Dana is the
Senior Network Engineer for WILD’s IT services and provides
remote N-tier support for WILD and a number of
organizations.
Dana received his BS from Huxley Collage of Environmental
Science (Honors and Special Recongition) and did his
graduate work at the Department of Technology and Human
Affairs, College of Engineering, Washington University.
Philip and Mikela Tarlow, Media and Communications
Strategies
Philip and Mikela joined The WILD Foundation in early 2007.
For over 20 years they have consulted to Fortune 500
companies and small businesses about media trends and online
strategies. They are authors of two books, Digital
Aboriginal: The Direction of Business Now (Warner Business)
and Navigating the Future (McGraw Hill) and are currently
working on a third book about the impact of storytelling on
business, education, politics and the larger culture. Their
new company, the Storylab Project, is focused on helping
communities, businesses and organizations to develop
effective communication strategies that utilize new media
opportunities and community building forums. They bring this
focus and their passion for wilderness to their work with
WILD.
Elizabeth Kudner, Branding and Marketing
Elizabeth also joined The WILD Foundation in early 2007 and
works with the Storylab Project, bringing expertise in
branding and marketing strategies. Kudner has helped over a
dozen companies and organizations to improve the value of
their brand. Through her work with Exclusive Resorts, a
rapidly growing luxury residence club, and Brand Iron, a
brand and business consulting firm, she has developed broad
industry knowledge and competency in sales, marketing and
operations. She is helping The WILD Foundation to revitalize
the WILD brand and develop innovative fundraising and
outreach strategies including a luxury travel program,
unique events and individual donor strategies.
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