Who We Are
Jim Tolisano
Co-founder and principal
Jim has designed and implemented natural resource and biodiversity conservation projects in more than 40 countries, and held a wide variety of professional positions that integrate applied work in sustainable finance, biodiversity conservation planning, protected area management, and communications. From 2006-2012, Jim served as the Director of the Kinship Conservation Fellows, an environmental leadership program that provides training and guidance in conservation finance strategies, business management, and economic tools for mid-career professionals. He is also Adjunct Professor of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Studies at New York University and an Advisor to the Center for Sustainable Business in the Stern School of Business.
John Winter
co-founder and principal
For the past 25 years, John has been a practitioner in conservation and socially responsible organizational practices. His career reflects his goal to understand the roles, motivations, and organizational structures of the various actors in these key areas and to engage people in environmental stewardship. He has worked in non-profit, for-profit, government, sustainability research, and consulting. John has co-founded three consulting firms, including ICONS, and has served as the executive director of three conservation organizations. He is the co-author of three books on environmental management, including “Waste at Work,” a guide to efficient resource use and preventing waste in businesses. John holds a masters degree in resource economics and policy from Duke University’s School of the Environment and a B.A. in accounting and history from Muhlenberg College.
Nejem Raheem, Ph.D.
ecological economist
Nejem Raheem is an Associate Professor of Ecological Economics at Emerson College, where he teaches in the Marketing Communication department and the Environmental Studies Minor. His teaching includes coursework that demonstrates the link between ecology and economics. His research addresses traditional and indigenous land use and ecosystem services, looking particularly at traditional irrigation practices. His fieldwork has included an assessment of traditional water use in the state of New Mexico, research on Inupiat Eskimo hunting, and traditional land use practices in Labrador, Canada. He has lived and worked in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Canadian northern territories. Nejem is widely published with solo and coauthored articles in the Journal of the Commons, Marine Policy, the Social Science Journal, and elsewhere. Current projects include a working group funded in part by the USGS on ecological drought; and projects on cataloging and valuing ecosystem services in northern New Mexico. Nejem received his MA and Ph.D. in Economics at the University of New Mexico and his BA in theater at Bennington College.
Kina Murphy, Ph.D.
Conservation ecologist
Kina Murphy is a conservation biologist whose work emphasizes practical actions to sustain and enhance biodiversity in areas that have been heavily impacted by resource extraction. She has over 15 years of field and management experience working in over 10 countries. Her responsibilities have ranged from biodiversity monitoring and market-based approaches to conservation to community based conservation planning and policy. Most recently, Kina led the development, management, and implementation of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Oyu Tolgoi Core Biodiversity Monitoring program for the South Gobi in Mongolia. She has a strong background in assisting companies and lenders in adopting and promoting best practices in terms of the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services; coordinating with governments to support the establishment of policies and regulations that foster improved land use management; and creating opportunities for better conservation outcomes from development. Kina has worked with communities, businesses and all levels of government in Botswana, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mongolia and throughout the U.S. Kina holds a Ph.D in Biology from the University of New Mexico with a concentration in “Mitigating the Impacts of Human Land-Use Change on Biodiversity”, and a Master’s in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico.