WELCOMING OUR FIRST JUNIOR BOARD

We are delighted to announce the new members of Wild Tomorrow’s first Junior Board! Read more about this talented group of New York City young professionals, each dedicated to making a difference in wildlife conservation.

The Junior Board’s first meetup at the Wild Tomorrow HQ in New York.

In 2015, John Steward and Wendy Hapgood founded Wild Tomorrow in New York City, activating a community of wildlife lovers who wanted to help protect threatened and endangered species and the places they call home. Now, under the strategic leadership of our Junior Board Chairperson Monia Bianco, a dozen brilliant mid-career professional New Yorkers are stepping up to make a difference for the natural world!  

During their year-long tenure, our Junior Board members will host an awareness and community-building event, and a fundraising event to support our mission to protect and restore habitat for wildlife. Stay tuned for updates from the growing Wild Tomorrow community in the Big Apple and meet the amazing team below.  

Monia Bianco, Vice President - Development Finance Institution, JP Morgan. In her day job, Monia unlocks finance for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but her passion for making a positive impact extends far beyond the office. Africa captured her heart when she first set foot in Kenya and trekked through the lush forests of Uganda to see gorillas in the wild. Monia is also a committed diver and hiker, always seeking new ways to connect with and protect the natural world. 

Alexandra Gamboa Dwerryhouse, Investor & Mentor, Microfinance, African Entrepreneurs Initiative. Alexandra has lived and worked in Africa and trekking gorillas and seeing the last remaining northern white rhinos helped inspire her commitment to conservation. She and her husband picked Wild Tomorrow for his New York half marathon charity. Now, Wild Tomorrow is a family affair! 

Daniyal Manekia, Analyst - Debt Capital Markets, Credit Agricole. Daniyal grew up in South Africa and feels a strong obligation to protecting its wild spaces. He and his mother founded Brightlights Learning, a Johannesburg charity that develops academic infrastructure for digital learning in underserved communities. 

Izzy Nesci, Sustainability Associate, The Community Preservation Corporation. Izzy has supported Wild Tomorrow for nearly 10 years! She joined us for a volunteer trip in 2019 helped her realize that she wanted to dedicate her career to sustainability.  

Kaila Frohna, Sustainable Finance Associate, Standard Chartered. Kaila has appreciated biodiversity since her early childhood. On a family trip to Kenya, she visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust saw the orphaned elephants in their care. While the baby elephants were adorable, it was heartbreaking to see so many young orphans at the nursery primarily due to human-wildlife conflict. Closer to home, Kaila is also running the Chicago Marathon for Team Elephant! 

Lucile Caron, Sustainable Finance Associate, Societe Generale. In her day job, Lucile sources financing for sustainable projects, including biodiversity and wildlife protection. In her spare time, she and her father protect land and aim to restore biodiversity in the Dominican Republic. 

Mandy Yang, Investments, Greenbacker. Mandy’s recent trip to the Amazon rainforest reinforced her passion for wildlife and biodiversity. In New York, she is active in organizations like the Climate Reality Project and women’s groups in the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors.  

Megha Mehdiratta, Tech & Incubation - Senior Innovation Associate, The New York Climate Exchange. What excites Megha most about Wild Tomorrow’s mission is its holistic approach to conservation, protecting not just wildlife but also ecosystems and communities and fostering a more sustainable and interconnected world. 

Michael Solazzo, Assistant Vice President, Project Finance, BayernLB. At work, Michael deploys construction and term loans to utility-scale solar, wind, and battery projects. He has supported a variety of nonprofits during his career, including the Red Cross, Autism Speaks, and the Alzheimer’s Association. We’re delighted that he is applying his impressive experience to support Wild Tomorrow. 

Miranda Jernberg, Exchange Traded Fund Associate, BlackRock. Miranda was born and raised on the US West Coast, where she relished visiting wild spaces, the homes of bald eagles, mature salmon, and migrating whales. Environmental protection, conservation, and restoration became part of her personal mission, and she is excited by how Wild Tomorrow puts the entire ecosystem at its core, where no detail is too small.  

William Cembalest, Associate, JP Morgan. William moved to Kenya for a fellowship with TechnoServe, an international nonprofit that promotes business solutions to reduce poverty. He also worked for Kumbatia Seafood, a social enterprise supporting small-scale fishing communities in East Africa and worked closely with NGO partners like WWF and The Nature Conservancy to align conservation with business growth. Earlier in his career, William helped launch a private equity fund focused on protecting and restoring forests in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. 

Zachary Russell, JP Morgan. A business trip to South Africa began Zachary’s passion for conservation. He made it a priority to return and has now visited South Africa six times! He and his wife got married in Stellenbosch outside Cape Town and organized a safari for his extended family. While living in Houston, Zachary was a steering committee member of Urban Green, a nonprofit dedicated to involving young professionals in philanthropy and environmental preservation. Now, he aims to build a similar community in New York for conservation.  

Learn more about our Junior Board members here.