Executive Director, Americas Partnerships & Philanthropy
Wild Impact
The Organization
About Wild Impact
Wild Impact Foundation Trust (“Wild Impact”) is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving critical biodiversity landscapes while advancing sustainable development within the communities that steward them. With more than three decades of impact across Africa in its priority conservation regions, Wild Impact integrates conservation excellence with community‑led solutions in education, healthcare, livelihoods, climate resilience and environmental protection.
Formerly known as Africa Foundation, the organization was founded in 1992 alongside the creation of the &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa. Its origins are rooted in a pioneering partnership model in which conservation success was tied directly to community well‑being and economic participation. The founders of &Beyond recognized that long‑term conservation required meaningful benefits to flow to surrounding communities, leading to the formation of a separate nonprofit entity designed to empower those living adjacent to protected landscapes.
The 30+ year co-shareholders of &Beyond are the Enthoven and Getty families. The two families have shared long term financial and impact visions which are delivered by &Beyond and Wild Impact working in lockstep together. The two families, as well as being the shareholders of &Beyond, have been and remain key philanthropic supporters of Wild Impact.
Through its longstanding impact partnership with &Beyond, Wild Impact has expanded from its South African origins into a global organization supporting conservation and sustainable community development impact in wild landscapes and seascapes in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Bhutan and Chile. Over the next 3 years this geographic scope will be expanded to include wild areas in Rwanda, Ecuador and Peru. Wild Impact achieves this by leveraging deep field infrastructure, trusted community relationships, and strong operational capacity. Its Theory of Change is anchored in four core pillars: Conserving Ecosystems, Future Foundations (education & health), Tomorrow’s Leaders and Thriving Communities, reflecting a holistic, systems‑based approach to long‑term conservation and community resilience. The organization’s model is anchored by a “listen, learn and co-create” methodology aimed at establishing long-term community and conservation partnerships.
Through its partnership with &Beyond, Wild Impact benefits from on-the-ground infrastructure support, community and stakeholder relationships, and operational support. This unique partnership positions the organization not only to sustain its current impact, but to significantly expand its reach and ambition over the coming years.
Wild Impact has a team of 160 full-time staff and over 1,000 interns. Annual Restricted Project funding and Unrestricted Overhead funding amounts to a total of approximately $10-12 million per annum over the period 2024-2026. Almost all of the funding and staffing is currently focused on our African footprint, with South Africa, at 75% of the total, being the largest single country element of both donor funding and project deployment.
As Wild Impact accelerates its global reach, now extending into Africa, South Asia and South America, it is prioritizing significant expansion of its philanthropic partnerships, with a particular focus on the Americas, where the organization seeks to deepen donor engagement, institutional partnerships and long‑term funding relationships to support its growing international impact.
The Opportunity
Position: Executive Director, Americas Partnerships and Philanthropy
Location: U.S. based, with structured travel to South Africa and Globally
Reporting Relationship: Chief Executive Officer
Website:
Wild Impact is at a compelling inflection point in its evolution. With strong governance, growing organizational maturity, and clear strategic priorities, Wild Impact is now focused on scaling both its programs and its philanthropic resources to meet increasing global demand for conservation-driven development solutions.
To support this next phase of growth, Wild Impact is creating a senior executive role dedicated to building and accelerating its Americas-based partnerships and philanthropy function. The Executive Director, Americas Partnerships & Philanthropy will play a central role in transforming Wild Impact’s fundraising engine, expanding its presence within North & South American philanthropic markets, securing transformational multi-year investments and cultivating strategic partnerships that advance both revenue growth and long-term impact.
Wild Impact’s 5-year strategic aim is for the aggregate annual Restricted Project funding and Unrestricted Overhead funding to rise steadily towards $20 million per annum from the current level of $10-12 million. The objective is for the largest single element of