5 questions with Annie Schouw, Chief Development Officer | Rare

What inspired you to work at Rare, and what interests you about conservation?

First, I’ve always been passionate about conservation… we’ve got this one beautiful planet, and we’re not taking care of it like we need to. The second thing that drew me to Rare is the centrality of behavior-centered design in conservation, focusing on the understanding that, if people are a part of the issue, then they’re just as much a part of the solution. At Rare, we’re saying, this is the situation, here’s the hope as well. And so that’s why I love conservation and Rare – it’s urgency but with hope.

What is a major concern in conservation fundraising that you’re seeing?

One major concern we’re seeing now concerns the mechanics of how to fundraise for conservation: How do you bring the public and private sectors together, because, at the end of the day, there’s not enough money going into conservation. You have these global pledging moments where everybody stands up and they say they’re going to do all these big things, then when you actually look at the money that’s been remitted for conservation, there’s a big delta. In 2021, the world’s 20 most climate vulnerable countries received just 6.5% of the climate finance they needed to address climate change concerns. So, there’s this huge disparity, and there absolutely is a role around accountability and around holding our leadership accountable.

How do you envision the future of philanthropy for conservation?

Right now, many funders are updating their strategic plans to be more focused on localization and ensuring that they’re structured in service to this localization. I think that’s a trend in philanthropy in general. But it’s like turning a battleship—it’s a little bit slow. But you do have organizations and funders that are really focused on making sure that the partners that they set up their agreements with have local communities at heart and that a lot of the money is flowing directly into these local communities versus into these big juggernauts in the Global North.

You get to create a Pride campaign focused on conserving one species (plant, animal, or fungi). What is it?

The organism I find most fascinating is called a tardigrade. Have you heard of it? You can’t kill it, and they’re basically indestructible. Its claim to fame is that you can freeze them and they’ll still wake up…you can even put them through really high temperatures and they’ll still survive. It’s fascinating!

What is a quote that inspires you?

There is a quote by the theologian David E. Trueblood one which is: “It takes a noble man to plant a seed for a tree that will someday give shade to people he may never meet.” I think that encapsulates my ethos, and it speaks to our shared humanity.