Dirk Sellers is passionate about our natural world and bringing people together to protect and preserve wildlife and wild places. As Chief Development Officer at the National Wildlife Federation since 2015, he has led teams to an unprecedented time of growth and expansion, more than tripling annual revenues while substantially expanding the Federation’s base of support and helping to solidify its long-term financial stability and impact.
He brings nearly three decades of leadership experience in organizational management and fundraising having held various roles in environmental conservation, international development, education and health. He previously served as Executive Director & President of the GAVI Alliance’s US-entity (formerly the Vaccine Fund), where he led efforts to engage private sector supporters across the Americas, Europe and Asia. His professional experience additionally includes tenures at two widely recommended management consulting firms where he led strategy development and various management and fundraising initiatives for a range of clients, notably including: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Global Fund, United Nations Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Resources for the Future, and Foundation Fighting Blindness among others.
In many ways, Dirk himself is a product of the Federation’s rich legacy of developing future conservationists. Ranger Rick was the first magazine he read as a kid, inspiring him in a lifelong love of nature. Years later, the opportunity to contribute professionally to the organization that brought millions of Americans Ranger Rick is one of the greatest privileges of his career.
