Mary Mistos

National Forest Foundation

IMary Mitsos joined the National Forest Foundation (NFF) in July 2001 and now serves as President & Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, Mary was Director of Community-Based Forest Stewardship at the Pinchot Institute for Conservation where she provided leadership for the program in renewable forestry and sustaining rural communities. She brings expertise in a spectrum of topics relating to the protection and sustainable management of forest ecosystems and sustainable development. Her specialized interests are in collaborative stewardship, contracting mechanisms on public forestlands, conservation-based development, and strengthening the working relationship between local communities and forestland managers.

With more than four decades of experience in the natural resources field, Mary holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Business from the University of Colorado-Denver. In addition, she earned a Master of Science in Natural Resources and a Master of Arts in Applied Economics from the University of Michigan, where she completed her capstone project on Sustainable Management of Common Property Resources. She served on the steering committee of the Seventh American Forest Congress Communities Committee, as a board member of the National Network of Forest Practitioners, and currently serves on the advisory board for the W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation at the University of Montana.