$480 million donation to advance ocean conservation announced by Nancy Lindborg

Nancy Lindborg and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced it is giving $480 million over the next five years to advance bold action for people, the ocean, and climate.
The announcement was made during the closing ceremony of the annual Our Ocean Conference, hosted in Athens, Greece, where governments, intergovernmental organizations, academia, the private sector, and civil society organizations came together to discuss and address key ocean challenges – including accelerating climate change, illegal and unsustainable fishing, and habitat loss – for a more sustainable future.
This new funding will address three of the greatest threats to ocean health —unsustainable fisheries, climate change and habitat loss.
“We see these threats as deeply interconnected,” said Nancy Lindborg, President and CEO of the Foundation. “We value working urgently, in partnership, and at the intersections of these issues to meet the challenge of protecting the ocean for the long-term health of the ocean, people and nature.”
This commitment is aligned with the Foundation’s ocean grantmaking which centers the communities who depend most on a healthy ocean and engage them in developing and implementing solutions that protect and restore marine biodiversity, achieve equitable and sustainable fisheries, and harness ocean-based climate solutions.
This announcement coincides with the United States Government’s unveiling of $103 million in ocean commitments, further highlighting the significance of collaborative action in tackling ocean conservation issues on a global scale.
Nancy Lindborg has served as the president and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation since August 2020. The Foundation awards more than $300 million in grants domestically and internationally to advance its mission of working with people and communities to create ensuring solutions for just societies and a healthy, resilient natural world.
Nancy has spent most of her career working internationally on issues of democracy and civil society, conflict resolution, and humanitarian response. She previously served as the president and CEO of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), a nonpartisan institute working to prevent, mitigate and resolve violent conflict around the world.
Nancy served as the assistant administrator during the Obama Administration for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA) at USAID, which focused on supporting democracy and preventing and responding to crisis. During her tenure, she had oversight of the response to complex challenges including the Syrian war, droughts in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, the Arab Spring, and the West Africa Ebola crisis. Prior to joining USAID, she was president of Mercy Corps, an international NGO known for innovative programs in the most challenging environments. She previously lived and worked in Nepal and Central Asia.
She currently serves as vice chair of the board of the ClimateWorks Foundation, as an advisory council member of the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity and on the board of trustees of the International Crisis Group.
Nancy holds a B.A. and an M.A. in English literature from Stanford University and an M.A. in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.