Our Staff

Kaddu Sebunya

Kaddu has over 20 years’ experience in conservation at grassroots, national, and regional levels in the USA, Africa, and Europe. He has worked with Oxfam UK, the World Conservation Union - IUCN, USA Peace Corps, Conservation International, and Solimar International. As African Wildlife Foundation’s CEO, Kaddu rallies the continent’s elite to lead the fight against the destruction of valuable habitats and wildlife. He believes that it is time for African voices and networks to re-imagine the conservation narrative. Kaddu has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, as well as an M.A. in Law, Policy & Diplomacy from The Fletcher School, Tufts University and an M.S. in Sustainable Resource Management & Policy from Wye College, Imperial College London.

Richard E. Holly

For over 25 years, Richard has been helping companies improve bottom lines results by identifying opportunities for operational and financial improvement and implementing solutions that create value. Successes include turning around two public charities, a professional association, and a privately held communications firm. As CFO, Richard is responsible for overseeing the Finance and Administrative Functions including Information Technology, Human Resources, Facilities and Administration. Prior to African Wildlife Foundation, Richard served in a variety of financial leadership roles in not-for-profit and for-profit companies in the healthcare, education, professional services, manufacturing, and basic materials industries. Richard holds an International M.B.A. from the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina and a B.S. in International Public Affairs from Oklahoma State University. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Virginia, and he has also earned the right to use the CFA® charter designation. Holly is a fluent French speaker, having worked in France for 10 years and is an active member of the French American Chamber of Commerce.

Craig Sholley

Craig's experiences with wildlife and conservation began in 1973 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire. As an L.S.B. Leakey grant researcher in the late 1970s, Craig studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey and, in 1987, became director of Rwanda's Mountain Gorilla Project, of which African Wildlife Foundation was a sponsor. Craig has acted as Scientific Advisor for the award-winning IMAX film, "Mountain Gorilla," and with National Geographic, he surveyed the conservation status of mountain gorillas in the aftermath of Rwanda's civil war. Craig’s direct involvement with AWF began as a Senior Associate and member of AWF’s Board of Trustees. He became a full-time employee of AWF in 2001 and now serves as Senior Vice President.

Charly Facheux

Charly began his career as a researcher focused on the economics of forest resources. Driven by his desire to “build the bridge between conservation and development” for local communities, he joined AWF in 2009 as Senior Program Officer for the Congo landscape. Known for his high standards and a knack for motivating teams in difficult circumstances, Charly took on the role of Vice President for Conservation Projects in 2015. He spends 40 percent of his time in the field to understand the challenges on the ground. Charly holds an M.S. in international management and external trade from the École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales in Douala, Cameroon.

Philip Muruthi

Philip, who has worked with African Wildlife Foundation for more than 20 years, faces conservation challenges from a broad perspective. His role is to deliver strong and appropriate conservation science inputs to AWF's integrated conservation strategies that take into account landscape-level approaches, social issues, and economic issues. He is responsible for issues as varied as the kind of endangerment classification a species should receive, or how resources should be allocated and oversees AWF's species program. In addition, Philip represents AWF in the international conservation dialogue, such as at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress. He is also a member of the Task Force on Kenya’s Migratory Corridors and Dispersal Areas as well as Kenya's National Giraffe Conservation Task Force. Philip’s educational qualifications are extensive, including both an M.S. and Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton University, and numerous publications.

Eric Coppenger

Eric leads a globally dispersed team at African Wildlife Foundation that engages governments and multilateral institutions in Africa, North America, Europe, and Asia. This team collaborates across the organization to drive policy and financing decisions that integrate wildlife and wild lands into development agendas in Africa and design new programs that deliver benefits for people and wildlife in priority landscapes. Eric started his conservation work in the backcountry of U.S. national parks and later western Uganda. Over the past 20 years, he has played key roles in program design addressing a diverse set of conservation strategies, and engaged institutional partners with the Environmental Law Institute, Earth Day Network, Conservation International, Rare, and African Wildlife Foundation. He has worked across Africa for more than two decades, but has also worked in Southeast Asia and with island states. Eric volunteers for and has served on the steering committees of the Global Island Partnership and the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group.

Alistair Pole

With over 20 years of experience in wildlife research and conservation management working with African governments, protected area authorities, and local communities, Alistair provides ongoing oversight for the breadth of AWF’s projects across the continent. He also oversees the organization’s Classroom Africa program, which delivers conservation through education. Alistair obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen, focusing on African wild dogs in Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou National Park and Save Valley Conservancy, where he later initiated a successful African wild dog conservation program. After completing his Ph.D., Alistair served as the Managing Director of Chishakwe Ranch in Save Valley Conservancy, of which he was a member of the executive committee for 10 years. He joined AWF in 2014, overseeing the management of Simien Mountains National Park in Ethiopia and Manyara Ranch Conservancy in Tanzania.