Michele Haynes

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Program Associate for Strategic Initiatives, Conservation Finance Network
Conservation Finance Network

Michele Haynes is the Program Associate for Strategic Initiatives at the Network (CFN). In her role she provides support and training on conservation financing strategies to the Sentinel Landscapes initiative, a partnership between USDA, DoD, and DOI to promote natural resource sustainability in areas surrounding military installations. She also co-creates educational resources and manages an internal strategy review with the goal of increasing the impact of CFN programming.

Before joining CFN, Michele worked at the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) as a Manager for the Impact Directed Environmental Accounts (IDEA) program. Her work included the management of all coastal resiliency projects in Louisiana funded by the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, a $2.5 billion fund for the restoration of natural resources affected by the Deepwater Horizon Spill. As the contract lead, she worked with partners to solicit, review, and contract project proposals and actively managed $600,000,000 of coastal projects with the State of Louisiana. 

Michele has a M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Biology from The College of William and Mary.

Authored Articles
Regions on the rise

The NRCS says it can help foster wide and deep conservation impacts by giving partners more latitude. (Photo courtesy NRCS.) 

Alternative Funding Arrangement: Unlocking Partnerships With Private Capital at USDA NRCS

Kari Cohen, Branch Chief at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), oversees regional partnerships. Kari explained the Alternative Funding Arrangement (AFA) provision of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which will invest up to $50 million in fiscal year 2020. The first cohort of up to 15 projects this fall will...

Beyond Easements: Broader Approaches for Greater Conservation Outcomes

Easements unlock value for landowners and preserve land for everyone else. With challenges to our ecosystem and economy coming faster and from more directions, conservation leaders need tools that apply more quickly or in quirkier situations. This toolkit looks over a range of techniques that extend conservation to situations where...
Nathalie Woolworth

Forging Fresh Ideas for Forests: An Interview with Nathalie Woolworth

In May, the Network spoke to Nathalie Woolworth, conservation finance manager of the United States Forest Service about the Innovative Finance for National Forests program. This program offers $1.8 million in grants for the development and deployment of innovative financial models to support resilience of the National Forests.