The National Wildlife Federation announced that Collin O’Mara will be the nest President and CEO
O’Mara, Delaware Secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, will take over the reins on July 7, 2014. He will succeed Larry Schweiger who is retiring May 2, 2014 after serving for 10 years as NWF's President and CEO.
As Delaware, O’Mara led the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control since 2009. In that position, O'Mara served as the state's top environmental official, led the state's efforts to conserve and restore wildlife and fishery habitat, improve air quality and public health, ensure access to clean water, expand outdoor recreation and environmental education opportunities, and enhance the state's resilience to extreme weather and other climate impacts.
Over the past several years, he has spearheaded a range of initiatives, including Delaware's “No Child Left Inside”/ Children In Nature campaign, a comprehensive strategy to confront childhood obesity by reintroducing children to the outdoors; the First State Trails and Pathways Plan, a multi-year initiative to expand and connect the state's trail system; and the Delaware Bayshore Initiative, an effort to establish the region as a world-class conservation and low-impact recreation tourism destination for hunting, birding, fishing, hiking, canoeing, and kayaking, as part of the President's America's Great Outdoors Initiative.
“Collin is a tireless leader with a deep understanding of conservation issues and a strong, entrepreneurial spirit,” said Deborah Spalding, chair of the NWF Board of Directors. “His track record in implementing innovative solutions to conservation challenges and his experience in managing large, complex organizations with a diverse stakeholder base are key skills that will be critical in taking the Federation forward in the coming years.”
“Confronting the pressing conservation challenges of this generation will require that Americans from every corner of our nation and every walk of life work together community by community and state by state to drive change at the national and international level,” said O'Mara. “The National Wildlife Federation has a proud legacy of bringing diverse groups together to protect wildlife, advancing landscape scale conservation, expanding environmental education, promoting outdoor recreation from hunting and fishing to birding, kayaking and wildlife watching, and driving meaningful policy change at every level of government. I look forward to building upon Larry's inspiring work as we do our generation's part to leave a healthier and more sustainable planet for all wildlife and future generations.”
