Kahlil Kettering named new Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Maryland and DC Chapter
Kettering formerly served as Maryland and DC Chapter Urban Conservation Director and TNC Bezos Earth Fund Program Director
Media Contacts
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Matt Kane
MD/DC Chapter
The Nature Conservancy
Phone: 323-898-6510
The Maryland and DC Chapter of The Nature Conservancy announced today that Kahlil Kettering has taken over leadership as its new Executive Director. Most recently, Kettering was the program director for TNC Bezos Earth Fund, where he managed application of the $100 million gift TNC received from the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020 to scale natural climate solutions around the world. Prior to that, Kettering served as the Urban Conservation Program Director for the Maryland and DC chapter.
“Kahlil built our urban program from the ground up, and we are thrilled to welcome him back to the Maryland and DC Chapter,” said Maryland and DC Chapter Board Chair Elizabeth Lewis. “Kahlil’s passion is inspiring, and we are excited to see how he helps introduce TNC to new communities, from Western Maryland to Baltimore to DC to the Eastern Shore.”
Quote: Elizabeth Lewis
Kahlil’s passion is inspiring, and we are excited to see how he helps introduce TNC to new communities, from Western Maryland to Baltimore to DC to the Eastern Shore.
In his previous role as the Maryland and DC Chapter’s Urban Conservation Program Director, Kettering led the creation of a stormwater program that created what is currently the city’s largest voluntary Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC) generating project at Mount Olivet Cemetery and helped jumpstart Washington, DC’s then-burgeoning SRC market. He also began the chapter’s thriving Baltimore program, which is exploring unique community-driven ways to address conservation and environmental injustice in Maryland’s largest city.
In his role as Bezos Earth Fund Project Director for The Nature Conservancy, Kettering oversaw strategic management and deliverables associated with the $100 million Bezos Earth Fund gift. The fund seeks to collaboratively deploy and scale natural climate solutions to capture greenhouse gas emissions around the world, including the empowerment of indigenous-led conservation efforts in the Emerald Edge – the world’s largest coastal temperate rain forest stretching from Southeast Alaska through British Columbia to Washington and Oregon. It also supports the development of regenerative agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance food security initiatives in India, and the advancement of science and knowledge around where and how to rapidly implement natural climate solutions that will sequester greenhouse gases.
Quote: Kahlil Kettering
Now, more than ever, is the time for us to tackle the environmental challenges we face, and for our region to continue to be at the vanguard of implementing solutions that protect nature and people.
“I am incredibly honored to come ‘home’ to where I started my career with The Nature Conservancy and am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead critical conservation work that will have lasting benefits for our communities,” said Kettering. “Now, more than ever, is the time for us to tackle the environmental challenges we face, and for our region to continue to be at the vanguard of implementing solutions that protect nature and people.”
For more information on The Nature Conservancy’s work in Maryland and Washington, DC, visit nature.org/Maryland.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 81 countries and territories (40 by direct conservation impact and 41 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit nature.org or follow @nature_press on X.