Kristine McDivitt Tompkins

Why you should listen

Conservationist Kristine McDivitt Tompkins is the president and co-founder of Tompkins Conservation and former CEO of Patagonia, Inc. For three decades, she has dedicated herself to protecting biodiversity by creating national parks and fostering regenerative economies. Together with her late husband, Douglas Tompkins, she protected more than 15 million acres of parkland in Chile and Argentina. Through Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile, Tompkins Conservation has created or expanded 15 national parks in Argentina and Chile, including two marine parks, and is working to restore dozens of endangered or extinct species, such as the jaguar, red-and-green macaw and giant river otters in Northeast Argentina. Tompkins served as Patron for Protected Areas for the UN Environmental Programme from 2018 to 2022 and was the first conservationist awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.