CSF is proud to announce Leonardo Fleck as CSF-Brazil’s newest board member. Leo is a Program Officer at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because Leo has a long history with CSF. As an early staff member of CSF-Brazil, Leo was instrumental in establishing our presence in Latin America. Leo joined CSF in 2005 shortly after earning his master’s degree in conservation biology with an emphasis in natural resource economics. He was CSF-Brazil's Senior Economic Analyst and Technical Program Manager as well as a lead cost-benefit analysis instructor for CSF courses in Brazil and beyond. Leo also took the lead on economic analyses in other parts of South America, including in Peru and Bolivia.

When asked about his experience with CSF, Leo was quick to bring up the people - from the staff members to the roughly 500+ graduates from around the world he helped train. “One of the things about CSF that I admire is that it has very committed people, and the organization has a high level of integrity.” Leo remarked that one of his favorite elements of his time with CSF was how much the work relied creativity and finding inventive solutions to problems.

Leo distinguished himself as a brilliant and thorough analyst and led various CSF projects on protected areas and infrastructure. One of his early efforts involved an economic analysis of proposed roads through the upper Amazon basin in Bolivia, including through Madidi National Park. “It was quite striking how many infrastructure projects didn’t have an economic study." Leo was part of the CSF team that helped show the full economic costs associated with the project and the economic benefits of the protected area, which ultimately led to the conclusion that the road was not a sound investment.

Leo left CSF five years ago to join the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in Palo Alto, California. Among the leaders in global environmental philanthropy, the Moore foundation’s grant-making focuses on solutions to large-scale challenges in the long-term. In his current role, Leo focuses on preserving tropical forests through market-based approaches. His specific focus is on supporting collaborative solutions that incentivize whole sectors to source commodities, particularly beef and soy, in ways that leave forests intact. Leo also serves as a Program Officer for the Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA).

When Leo was invited by CSF-Brazil Board President Marcelo Araújo to become a director, it was an easy decision. “I would like to help CSF grow faster, become more robust, and continue to do what CSF does best.” We're grateful and thrilled to have Leo helping guide the organization and know that he will make contributions not only in Brazil, but to our global programs as well.

Leo holds an M.S. in conservation biology from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, an M.B.A. from Centro Universitário UNA, and a B.S. in biological sciences from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. He lives in Palo Alto with his wife Renata and enjoys barbecuing with friends and experiencing the thrill of mountain biking, snowboarding, scuba diving, skydiving, and travelling to and photographing remote natural places.