Ari Novy is the President & CEO of San Diego Botanic Garden. Prior to this role, he was Chief Scientist at Leichtag Foundation in Encinitas, CA and Executive Director of the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC.

Peter Wyse Jackson is the Director of Missouri Botanical Garden and George Englemann Professor of Botany, Washington University in St. Louis. In 1987, he joined IUCN where he helped to establish the international network organization for botanic gardens that became BGCI.

Robert Patterson is an experienced real estate, business and public agency transaction attorney, and a life-long plant enthusiast.

James Affolter is the Director of Research at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and a Professor in the Department of Horticulture. He is founding chairperson of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance.

Jesus Antonio is the Director of Protected Natural Areas for CONANP (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas) in Juchitan, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Mary Blodgett is a retired litigation attorney and a current tree farmer, gardener, and community volunteer.

Nicole Cavender is the Vice President of Science and Conservation at the Morton Arboretum. She has been leading programs that span global plant conservation, tree science, urban forestry, and ecological restoration for more than 18 years.

Ed Guerrant is Retired Director of the Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank & Plant Conservation Program at Portland State University, in Portland, Oregon.

Kayri Havens is the Medard and Elizabeth Welch Director of Plant Science and Conservation at Chicago Botanic Gardens.

cot Medbury is the Executive Director of Quarryhill Botanical Garden. He was previously the President & CEO of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers and the Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum, Golden Gate Park.

Catherine Nicholson is a passionate environmentalist and long-time active member of the Garden Club of America.

Based at The Huntington Botanical Gardens in southern California (USA), Abby connects BGCI’s global initiatives to the U.S. botanic garden community, and leverages U.S. capacity, expertise, and resources where it is most needed.

With a career spanning 25 years working in conservation, Paul joined BGCI as Secretary General in March 2015. He is the former Head of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) and, during his nine years at the helm, seeds from more than 25,000 plant species were conserved in the MSB.