Nikola Alexandre is a Black queer forester, land steward and social justice fighter. He was raised by the deserts of New Mexico and the mountains of Southern France. His work is grounded in the notion that climate change, ecological collapse and the continued devaluation of Black and Indigenous communities are interconnected and call for radical transformations to the environmental movement. By focusing on community-centered approaches that connect ecosystem restoration, business development, traditional knowledge and land tenure, Nikola works to uplift models of what such transformations could look like as we reimagine and usher in our shared future.
Nikola currently leads Conservation International’s Ecosystem Restoration Program and is a co-founder of the Shelterwood Center for Resilient Futures, a working forest modeling land stewardship for the 21st century. Through these roles, Nikola works to nurture a decolonial land ethic that centers Black and Indigenous people and practices. He has launched a number of technical guides on scaling up restoration across the world, developed partnerships with companies including Apple and Mastercard, provided guidance to the United Nations on restoration best practices and supported antiracist learnings across numerous environmental organizations. Nikola holds a Master of Forestry and Masters of Business Administration from Yale University.