Meet the Enduring Earth Team

Zdenka Piskulich 

Zdenka Piskulich is the Managing Director of Enduring Earth since 2021. Working with the founding organizations, Zdenka leads this ambitious collaboration to accelerate and strengthen conservation around the world through partnerships, ongoing funding, and local leadership. Prior to joining Enduring Earth, Zdenka led Forever Costa Rica and was the president of the Network of Latin American and Caribbean Environmental Funds (RedLac). Previously, she worked at The Nature Conservancy for over thirteen years as a Director for Costa Rica’s Program and as Director of the International Private Land Initiative. She also served as Executive Coordinator of the Center for Environmental Law and Resources (CEDARENA). She is a lawyer and has a master’s degree in International Development from the American University in Washington D.C.

Maurie Carr

Maurie Carr is the Deputy Director for Enduring Earth. She has nearly 15 years of experience working in international organizations, government, and the private sector. Prior to joining Enduring Earth, she worked as Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Company, supporting clients on decarbonization journeys and in the public and social sector more broadly. She holds an AB with Honors from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a Master of Business Administration from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Paulina Arroyo

Paulina Arroyo is Director, Global Portfolio, for Enduring Earth. Prior to this role, Paulina was the Director, Adaptive Management and Evaluation, at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, where she served as the technical officer to the foundation’s Environmental Conservation team, in addition to supporting foundation-wide efforts in building capacity and creating learning opportunities in adaptive management. Paulina transitioned to the foundation’s Adaptive Management and Evaluation team after nine years as a program officer for the Moore Foundation’s Andes-Amazon Initiative, where she led and managed grant-making to consolidate protected areas and indigenous lands in the Amazon. She also served as lead facilitator for monitoring, data analysis, and visualization for the initiative. In this role, she led collaborations with partners to establish two cornerstone PFPs: Peru’s Natural Legacy and Herencia Colombia. Paulina also serves on the board for a recently created non-profit committed to elevating women’s role in conservation, Planet Women. Paulina holds a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a Bachelor’s in environmental studies from University of Waterloo, Canada.

Brendan Hickey

Brendan Hickey is the Financial Planning and Modeling Lead for Enduring Earth. He brings over a decade of experience serving the U.S. National Park Service in a variety of business planning and park management roles, most recently as the Chief of Finance and Administration for Yosemite National Park. His previous experience was in investment banking, executing mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions for clients globally. He has also worked on the Obama for America budget team, and as an English teacher in rural Chile. Brendan holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado

Korey Te Hira

Korey Te Hira is the Strategy and Operations Lead at Enduring Earth. He works on strategic projects in support of efficient and effective partnership operations and conservation strategy, while building trusted relationships and facilitating collaboration across multiple partners and institutions. Prior to joining Enduring Earth Korey was Vice President of Strategy & Operations at digital media organization The Markup and has held numerous roles across the nonprofit, private and public sectors. He holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Commerce with Honors in Economics from The University of Auckland.

María Luisa Hernández

María Luisa Hernández is the Program Manager at Enduring Earth. She has more than 10 years of experience working in international organizations and NGOs. Prior to this position, María Luisa coordinated development at the Forever Costa Rica PFP and led the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Conservation Trust Funds. She holds bachelors and advanced studies degrees in International Politics and International Relations and a bachelors in Business Administration. She also holds a masters degree in Public Administration focused on Management of Nonprofits and International Organizations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Maria Luisa is an educator at heart and has taught courses in Nonprofit Management, Social Innovation, and Peace Education. She is fluent in Spanish, English, German, Portuguese and Italian.

Laura Margison

Laura Margison is the Senior Director, Communications, for Enduring Earth. She has almost 20-years international experience in communications, digital marketing, and fundraising, working in the non-profit, public policy, and industry sectors. Laura’s efforts to advance communications for Enduring Earth include outreach to support local to global conservation outcomes and deliver meaningful change on-the-ground. Her work includes a targeted channel approach through storytelling, media engagement, digital-first outreach, print, radio, and advertising. Before joining Enduring Earth, Laura worked at The Pew Charitable Trusts and World Wildlife Fund where she led program communications for ocean, lands, markets, and biodiversity campaigns, including 30 by 30, Breaking the Plastic Wave, and Protecting tiger forests in Sumatra, Indonesia. Laura holds a Master of Science from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.

Tristan Schnader

Tristan Schnader has spent the bulk of his career within the conservation NGO world, and currently serves as Project Manager for Enduring Earth. His background ranges from overseeing several boards of directors to managing global projects and organizational strategy. His experience also includes evaluating impact metrics as well as conservation finance analysis. He is passionate about implementing projects that serve stakeholder communities and the planet simultaneously. Tristan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Sociology from The College of William and Mary and a Masters in Business Administration from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business with certificates in Non-Market Strategy and Sustainable Business.

Chad Martin

Chad Martin works as a Project Manager in support of Enduring Earth PFPs. He holds a Masters degree in International Affairs / Economic Development from Texas A&M University, and has a professional background in international financial and economic consulting. His favorite aspect of his role at Enduring Earth is working within and across high-performing, cross-functional teams toward the shared vision of nature-based, community-centered conservation around the world. Chad currently resides in Colorado, where he spends the majority of his spare time outdoors with his family.

Johan Miceler

Johan’s career has focused on community-based conservation in Asia, with particular focus in the Himalayan region for the last 25 years. In the 1990s he worked as mountaineering guide throughout the Himalaya, which led to the creation of a small NGO focused on new protected area establishment in the eastern Himalayas. In 2008 Johan became Managing Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s Eastern Himalaya program. This work focused protection of flagship eastern Himalayan species including snow leopard, tiger, Asian one-horned rhino and elephants as well as developing strategies for community led conservation in Nepal, Bhutan, India, Myanmar and China. He currently supports Enduring Earth Project Finance for Permanence initiatives around the world.

Yuliana Benavides

Yuliana Benavides is the Administrative Assistant for Enduring Earth. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and advanced studies in International Cooperation from the National University of Costa Rica, and a Bachelor’s in English teaching by the University of Costa Rica. Yuliana has more than 7 years of experience in government institutions, the private sector, international organizations, and diplomacy. Before joining Enduring Earth, she worked at the Korean Embassy to Costa Rica, where she was the Consular and Cultural Affairs Assistant. Yuliana is fluent in Spanish and English, and also speaks German.