ifaw names Tammy L. Palmer as Executive Vice President, Strategy & Business Management

Washington, DC – 21 April 2020 – The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) announced today that Tammy L. Palmer will assume the role of Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Management for the organization, effective April 20th.

As a leader in the areas of strategic planning, international development, and conservation, Palmer has held previous diplomatic and executive management roles in both public and private sectors in various nations across Africa including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Since 2013, Palmer served as Vice President of Africa Programs for the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), where she led global efforts to provide strategic direction to over 300 program employees, including reinforcing the organization’s brand identity across its broad scope of implementation, and diversifying funding portfolios across multiple countries. Appointed Chief Operations Officer of JGI in July 2018, she also served simultaneously as the organization’s Interim Executive Director.

Prior to her work at JGI, Palmer was a career Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development, better known as USAID, where she had foreign assignments in Peru as well as in Liberia. During her time in Liberia, she spearheaded USAID Liberia’s public management reform initiatives and served as the U.S. Mission’s Economic Governance Officer. Managing a portfolio which included a $45 million institutional capacity building project, she partnered with senior leaders from the government of Liberia to deliver on economic and civil service reform goals. Her Foreign Service career also included previous assignments in both Washington, D.C., and Afghanistan.

Palmer is the co-author of a publication regarding improving food security and reducing hunger in sub-Saharan Africa published by the International Food Policy Research Institute. She has also received various accolades including the Department of State Meritorious Honor Award, the Congressional Hunger Center Leadership Award, and the USAID Meritorious Honor Award. Palmer holds a Master’s degree in Development from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs and Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Williams College.

"Tammy’s global experience, coupled with her deep-rooted programmatic knowledge and unique skillset in both strategy and business management, are a formidable asset for IFAW. As an organization that recently celebrated its 50th milestone anniversary, we welcome Tammy to our global team and look forward to her contributions as we continue to tackle complex animal welfare and conservation issues, laying the foundation for another half-century of success,” said Azzedine Downes, President and Chief Executive Officer of IFAW.

"I look forward to putting my experience to work in support of IFAW’s critical global mission. The long-standing success of the organization in the fields of animal welfare and conservation are a tribute to its diverse and talented team of which I am excited to now be a part,” said Palmer.

For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact:

IFAW: Rodger Correa at +1 202 834 6637 or rcorrea@ifaw.org

ABOUT IFAW

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is a global non-profit helping animals and people thrive together. We are experts and everyday people, working across seas, oceans, and in more than 40 countries around the world. We rescue, rehabilitate, and release animals, and we restore and protect their natural habitats. The problems we’re up against are urgent and complicated. To solve them, we match fresh thinking with bold action. We partner with local communities, governments, non-governmental organizations, and businesses. Together, we pioneer new and innovative ways to help all species flourish. See how at ifaw.org.