Alison White Joins Arcus’ Great Apes & Gibbons Program as Research, Learning and Evaluation Program Officer
NEW YORK, NY; CAMBRIDGE, UK – The Arcus Foundation, a global foundation promoting respect for diversity among peoples and in nature, is pleased to announce the appointment of Alison White (preferred gender pronouns: she/her) to the Great Apes & Gibbons Program as Research, Learning and Evaluation Program Officer.
In her new role, Alison will focus on ensuring that learning from the field and broader society inform the foundation’s strategic conservation grantmaking, and that knowledge emerging from Arcus’ field engagement in turn informs the sector and beyond. This will include strengthening partnerships and dialogue within the field of conservation, and ensuring that the voices and representation of marginalized groups in ape range states are explicitly informing and shaping conservation efforts.
Prior to joining Arcus, Alison worked in advocacy, development, and environmental positions in Botswana, Gabon, South Africa, Uganda, and the UK. She helped to set up the Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA), where she was involved in joint projects with the International Gorilla Conservation Programme on community ecotourism development and environmental education. While working for the Kuru Family of Organizations in Botswana, she co-compiled and edited Voices of the San: Living in Southern Africa Today (2004), the first-ever book written by the San people themselves about their traditional lives and the impact of other people coming into their lands.
Alison has also been the consultant production coordinator and editor of Arcus’ publication series State of the Apes since 2012, and will continue to coordinate the production of the 5th volume into 2021.
Alison holds a bachelor’s of science in environmental studies from Manchester Metropolitan University and a master’s of science in tourism and conservation from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent.
ABOUT ARCUS
Founded in 2000 by Jon Stryker, the Arcus Foundation is a private grantmaking institution dedicated to the idea that people can live in harmony with one another and the natural world. Arcus’ work is based on the belief that respect for diversity among peoples and in nature is essential to a positive future for our planet and all of its inhabitants. The foundation works globally and has offices in New York City and Cambridge, UK.