We partnered with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation on the search for a Vice President of Development. The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation works to protect species, conserve ecosystems, and preserve cultural and maritime heritage through community stewardship, public education, scientific research, and on-the-water conservation projects.

Our work resulted in the recruitment of Peggy Knudson to the role.

Knudson has more than 25 years of experience in fundraising and grantmaking, including at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, where she was Vice President of Development; at the Brookings Institution, where she was Director of Development for Foreign Policy; at Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, where she was Vice President for Development; and at ecoAmerica, an organization dedicated to getting everyday Americans on board with climate solutions, where she was Vice President for Development and a member of the Executive Management Team. She started her career at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, where she was promoted to acting director of the Fund’s Berlin office in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. She has also been Executive Director of Women In International Security, an organization dedicated to promoting women as decision makers in foreign and defense affairs.

Knudson has an M.A. in European Studies and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. in Journalism and English from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.