The Conservation Fund has appointed Kristina Wyatt as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, marking a strategic leadership move that connects climate disclosure expertise with large-scale U.S. land conservation and infrastructure planning. The appointment comes as the United States enters a prolonged phase of infrastructure expansion spanning data centers, energy systems, transmission networks, and affordable housing.

Conservation Enters the Infrastructure Era

The Conservation Fund, a national non-profit focused on conservation finance and land protection, has long operated at the intersection of environmental stewardship and economic development. Its work spans working forests and farms, habitat protection, outdoor access, and rural economic resilience. Wyatt’s appointment signals a deliberate strengthening of governance capacity as conservation becomes increasingly intertwined with infrastructure growth rather than positioned alongside it.

Infrastructure expansion in the U.S. is accelerating, driven by energy transition investments, digital infrastructure demand, and housing shortages. For policymakers, developers, and investors, the central challenge is no longer whether development will occur, but how land use, water resources, and biodiversity are accounted for within that growth. The Conservation Fund is positioning itself as an active participant in shaping those outcomes.

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From Corporate Carbon to Landscape-Level Strategy

Wyatt joins after four years at Persefoni, where she played a senior role in climate disclosure, carbon accounting, and sustainability governance. Her work there sat at the heart of how companies respond to investor expectations and regulatory frameworks on emissions reporting.

Her transition reflects a broader convergence between corporate climate data and physical land use. As Scope 3 emissions reporting expands and nature-related financial disclosures gain traction, land stewardship, biodiversity, and ecosystem services are becoming material considerations in corporate and infrastructure decision-making. Wyatt will remain on Persefoni’s Sustainability Advisory Board, maintaining a link between disclosure systems and real-world environmental outcomes.

Land Use, Biodiversity, and Economic Planning

Wyatt framed her move as a response to the long-term consequences of planning decisions made decades earlier. With climate impacts now visible across communities and ecosystems, she emphasized the opportunity to align future development with land and water protection that supports biodiversity, climate resilience, and local economies.

This perspective aligns with a growing shift in ESG and risk management. Land availability, permitting timelines, community engagement, and biodiversity exposure are increasingly factored into investment models for energy, real estate, and digital infrastructure. Conservation is moving from a compliance consideration to a strategic planning input.

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Governance Signals for Markets and Policymakers

For investors and executives, the appointment highlights several structural changes. Conservation organizations are evolving into infrastructure partners rather than external stakeholders. Land protection and conservation finance are being integrated into public-private development strategies. Biodiversity and community outcomes are becoming relevant to capital allocation, not only to environmental advocacy.

Wyatt’s legal and governance background strengthens The Conservation Fund’s ability to operate at this intersection, particularly as blended finance models, land banking strategies, and conservation-linked infrastructure planning gain prominence.

A Long-Term View of Growth and Resilience

The Conservation Fund’s leadership move reflects a broader recalibration underway in U.S. development strategy. As infrastructure investment scales, conservation is being reframed as enabling long-term economic resilience rather than constraining growth. Embedding land, water, and biodiversity considerations early in project design can reduce risk, improve permitting certainty, and support durable community outcomes.

With Wyatt stepping into a senior leadership role, The Conservation Fund is reinforcing its position as a strategic actor in how the next generation of U.S. infrastructure is planned, financed, and delivered, aligning climate resilience, biodiversity protection, and economic development within the same governance framework.

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