Australian Conservation Foundation announces new President

The Australian Conservation Foundation has announced Liana Downey as their new President and Chair of ACF’s Board.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), formed in 1965, is Australia’s national environment group – a community of more than half a million people who stand up for nature and action to tackle climate change.

Downey, an experienced strategic adviser who has held senior roles in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors, shared “I’m honoured to have the opportunity to work with the Australian Conservation Foundation and its supporters to protect our extraordinary natural heritage.”

ACF Chief Executive Kelly O’Shanassy welcomed Downey to the role “Liana is a dynamic leader with a wealth of relevant experience and we are excited to welcome her as ACF’s President at a crucial time for action on climate and nature in Australia.”

Downey led the development of Australia’s first Greenhouse Gas Abatement Cost curve and was a leader of the sustainability practice at McKinsey & Company.

She founded Common Ground on Climate, a national multidisciplinary research project to identify the best ways to safeguard Australia’s environment and economy, and was an Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Downey was Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Delivery for NSW Education, Special Adviser to Prime Minister and Cabinet and Chief EXecutive of a boutique strategy advisory with offices in Sydney and New York.

She holds an MBA (Public Policy) from Stanford (Arjay Miller Scholar) and has co-authored white papers on effective approaches for managing Australia’s energy transition.

Downey is the author of ‘Mission Control: How Nonprofits and Governments Can Focus, Achieve More and Change the World’ (Taylor and Rutledge, 2016).

Past ACF presidents include former High Court Chief Justice Sir Garfield Barwick, the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip, former Federal Court judge Murray Wilcox, economist ‘Nugget’ Coombs, businessman/activist Geoff Cousins, Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett, respected scientist Ian Lowe, and businesswoman/advocate Mara Bún.