Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Names New Chief Program Officer

Aileen Lee tapped to lead Environmental Conservation Program

PALO ALTO, Calif.--()--The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation today announced the appointment of Aileen Lee as chief program officer for environmental conservation. In the coming months, Lee will take leadership of the team responsible for distributing nearly $100 million per year to protect critical ecosystems globally.

For more than a decade, Lee has helped to shape conservation efforts for the foundation. She led the Wild Salmon Ecosystems Initiative and helped to launch new efforts designed to address the impact of food production on the environment. In addition, she has served as chair of the board for the Environmental Grantmakers Association and treasurer of the Western Conservation Foundation.

“Aileen Lee is already a recognized leader in global conservation efforts,” said Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “Her knowledge of the philanthropic sector, her reputation within the environmental community, and her proven ability to advance our founders’ vision for conservation, make her the right choice for this role.”

Prior to joining the foundation, Aileen was an associate principal at McKinsey & Company where she led client engagements in strategy, operation and organizational effectiveness across a wide-range of sectors. She received a B.A. in political science and East Asian studies from Yale University. She is a member of the State Bar of California and received her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

“Gordon and Betty Moore have a remarkable vision for conserving biodiversity and critical ecosystems at scale,” said Lee. “I look forward to assuming this new role and continuing the important work this foundation has undertaken over the past 15 years.”

Lee succeeds Guillermo Castilleja, Ph.D. in this role. Today, the foundation named Castilleja as the inaugural senior fellow at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

In 2015, Lee became the program director overseeing the foundation’s newest initiatives – Forests and Agriculture Initiative, Oceans and Seafood Markets Initiatives, and Conservation and Financial Markets Initiatives. The foundation will launch a search to identify a new program director. Castilleja and Lee will assume their new roles when that search is complete.

With more than $6.5 billion in assets, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is the ninth largest foundation in the United States. The Environmental Conservation Program accounts for approximately 40 percent of the foundation’s annual grantmaking, making the foundation one of the largest private funders of environmental conservation worldwide.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Visit www.moore.org or follow @MooreFound.

Contacts

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Genny Biggs, 415-577-0094
genny.biggs@moore.org

Release Summary

The Moore Foundation today announced the appointment of Aileen Lee as chief program officer for its environmental conservation program.

Contacts

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Genny Biggs, 415-577-0094
genny.biggs@moore.org