Washington, DC (September 29, 2021) - Today, the Walton Family Foundation announced Teresa Ish will serve as senior program officer and Oceans initiative lead for the Environment Program, working to protect rivers, oceans and the communities that rely on them. The Oceans team works with organizations across the country to promote sustainable management of fisheries in order to protect ecosystems and build economically thriving coastal communities.
“Teresa’s deep understanding and experience in the conservation sector will be extremely important as we embark on our next five-year strategy, which refocuses our commitment on water and the communities and ecosystems that need it to survive,” said Moira Mcdonald, the director of the foundation's Environment Program. “As our country, and our entire globe, look to mitigate against climate change, we are supporting solutions that prioritize nature and people living and succeeding together.”
Since 2010, Teresa has been managing grants in the Environment Program that leverage the power of the supply chain to advocate for more sustainable fisheries. Before joining the foundation, Teresa was the seafood project manager for the Corporate Partnerships Program at Environmental Defense Fund, where she worked with leading seafood buyers to develop and implement sustainable seafood purchasing policies. During her tenure at EDF, she played an instrumental role in merging the organization's seafood buyer work and its extensive experience in the fishery policy arena. Prior to joining EDF, she co- founded FishWise and served as its director of science. Teresa holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and biology and a Master of Science in oceans science from the University of California Santa Cruz.
About the Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.