ABOUT ME
Lindsay Hower
Lindsay has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and she has always centered her working life on protecting nature, bolstering community development, and prioritizing travel and adventure.
She has led teams in global conservation and climate change organizations and held roles addressing inequity and social justice. Currently, she is the Global Director of Development and Climate at The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
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In her current role, Lindsay collaborates with fundraisers and philanthropists to finance TNC’s climate mitigation and adaptation solutions in over 80 countries. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S.
Before TNC, Lindsay was the Executive Director for Summer Search in the Bay Area. Summer Search partners with talented low-income youth and their families to access college and prepare for their futures. While at Summer Search, she led a 40-person team alongside a 35-person Board of Directors through a major organizational merger of three program sites into one flagship location over an intense two-year timeframe, resulting in a larger budget by 2X and a major streamlining effort across personnel, compensation, program quality and rollout.
She also served as the U.S. National Director of Right To Play (RTP), a global organization using play to educate and empower children facing adversity in 23 countries. During her time at RTP, Lindsay and her team successfully launched two of its signature fundraising galas, the Big Red Ball, in New York City, exceeding $100 M+ revenue targets and partnering with major celebrity talent including Bob Costas, former Olympics and MLB sportscaster, and 30+ professional and Olympic athletes across a variety of sports.
She also produced a TEDx talk alongside Olympic silver medalist Jason Rodgers at the Youth conference in San Diego in 2012.
Lindsay began her career in philanthropy at Rare, a global conservation group for which she rose through the ranks to lead the major and principal gifts program as well as establish the donor travel program and signature annual fundraising gala. Over her six-year tenure, Lindsay led over 12 international donor field trips to a long list of nature-dotted places like Belize, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Indonesia and China. Lindsay has been to over 45 countries to date, either for work, fun, adventure, or all three!
" Lindsay believes that well-rounded perspectives are critical to driving organizational growth and success.
She has years of experience in every seat around the table – team member, team leader, director and
board member. Most recently, she was Board Chair for La Cocina, a San Francisco incubator for BIPOC
and immigrant women food entrepreneurs that helps them build profitable businesses in the Bay Area.
Lindsay also spent nearly a decade on the Board of Directors for Telluride Mountainfilm, a multi-day film
festival offering a confluence of film, art, photography and storytelling that celebrates wild places and
local communities. "
Lindsay earned her Master’s degree in Global Environmental Policy from American University and her
B.A. from Cornell University. She holds certificates in strategic nonprofit management and human-
centered leadership from Harvard Business School and the University of Cambridge.
A global traveler,she enjoys camping, yoga, swimming, cycling, cooking and writing. But her favorite role of all time is being a Mom. Originally from New York, Lindsay has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2010.
Credentials
Education & Training
Master's Degree
Global Environmental Policy
American University
Bachelor of Arts
B.A., English and International Development (Double major)
Cornell University
Executive Certificates
Strategic Nonprofit Management & Human-Centered Leadership
Harvard Business School & University of Cambridge