Fred O'Regan

Work

As President and CEO, Fred heads IFAW’s expert teams in campaigning to save whales and elephants, end the Canadian seal hunt and fight the illegal trade in wildlife globally. He represents IFAW at international conferences, such as the Global Tiger Summit and the INTERPOL Environmental Crime conference, and he has testified before the US Congress on environmental and conservation issues, most recently addressing the negative impacts of shark finning.

Within the organisation, Fred leads ongoing strategic planning to optimise IFAW efforts in policy development, habitat protection for wildlife preservation and providing direct assistance to domestic and wild animals in need. He serves as a member of the U.S. Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee, that oversees the environmental aspect of U.S. Trade Agreements, and regularly represents IFAW in public speaking engagements.

Shortly after accepting the CEO position, after discussions with Richard Leakey, Fred established an IFAW office in Kenya. Fred was responsible for drafting the work plan for the restoration of Kenya’s Meru National Park after poaching had decimated the wildlife of the area. Meru National Park is now a resounding success.  More recently, Fred returned to East Africa to help with an elephant satellite-tracking programme, continuing IFAW’s elephant protection work.

In 2010, Fred led IFAW’s international team in defeating a proposal to the International Whaling Commission that would have overturned the worldwide ban on whaling in place since 1986, by allowing legalized hunting of whales by Iceland, Norway, and Japan – the last three countries still hunting whales commercially.

Background

• Regional Director, Peace Corps, Europe, Central Asia and the Mediterranean
• Program Director, Aspen Institute, USA
• Director, Community Economics Corporation, USA
• Visiting Professor, Public and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, USA
• Director, Kenya Rural Enterprise Program, Kenya
• Co-founder/Director, Development Group for Alternative Policies (Development GAP), USA
• Program Director, Cambridge Economic Opportunity, USA
• Member, Board of Directors, World Animal Forum
• Member, Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (TEPAC), USA
• Member, Board of Trustees, World Education
• Member, Board of Directors, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce

Education

Master of Social Work (MSW), Community Development and Planning, Catholic University, USA
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Philosophy and Biology, Marquette University, USA

Publications:

Forward to Gaining Ground: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability. 2006. Lavigne, D.M. (ed.). IFAW Canada and University of Limerick, Ireland