Mike Sweeney

Mike Sweeney is executive director of The Nature Conservancy in California and managing director of global fisheries. He has worked in business, government and nonprofits and has more than 20 years of experience solving major environmental challenges in the U.S. and internationally. He joined The Nature Conservancy in 1998 as a project director and became chief operating officer and associate state director in 2001. In that role he oversaw historic accomplishments and major strategic initiatives in water, climate, oceans, and public finance. In 2007, he was named Executive Director in California, and in 2016 he added the role of Managing Director of Global Fisheries. As an assistant to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, he helped advance the first Clinton Administration’s conservation priorities, including national park concessions reform, the transition of closing military bases to wildlife refuges, Everglades restoration, and making the Endangered Species Act more effective. Previously, he worked in national politics for the Clinton-Gore '92 campaign in Little Rock, worked for Kodansha Ltd, Japan's largest publisher, and served on the staff of a member of the Japanese Diet. Since 2008 he has served as a director and program committee chair for Island Conservation. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Harvard College.