Nonprofits/Philanthropy: LAWRENCE A. ‘LARRY’ SELZER

Since 1985, The Conservation Fund has aimed to protect historically significant lands and ensure healthy outdoor spaces in underserved communities. That includes facilitating the return of tribal lands to Indigenous communities, which the fund’s longtime president and CEO says is in keeping with the nonprofit’s mission to ensure America’s environmental health and economic vitality.

“We are in the business of land conservation,” says Selzer, who was hired in 2001. “Tribes who had their land taken from them are great stewards, especially when it comes to sustainable forestry and wildlife conservation.”

In June, the fund partnered with the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and the Indian Land Tenure Foundation to restore more than 28,000 acres to the tribe within the Bois Forte Reservation.

Fund highlights from 2021 include 138 new projects in 34 states, with 188,000 acres protected, valued at more than $403 million. The fund’s annual revenue is $275 million, according to Selzer, who has an MBA from the University of Virginia.

Selzer is board chair and vice-chair for the American Bird Conservancy and Leading Harvest, respectively, and is a board member for Weyerhaeuser Co., a Seattle-based timberland company.