Jamie Williams Replaces Bill Meadows at Wilderness Society

President Jamie Williams joined The Wilderness Society in 2012. Jamie leads The Wilderness Society in its mission to inspire Americans to care for our wild places.  He succeeded Bill Meadows, who led the organization for decades.

Before coming to The Wilderness Society, Jamie led The Nature Conservancy’s work to protect large landscapes in North America. There he focused on helping Conservancy programs and key partners protect large landscapes through innovative, private and public finance. He also spearheaded critical efforts to secure conservation funding in Congress, among many other accomplishments.

Previously, Jamie also served as the Conservancy’s Northern Rockies Initiative Director (2007–2010) and Montana State Director (1998–2007), where he focused on protecting the Northern Rockies’ largest, most intact landscapes through strong community-based programs, public-private partnerships, and ambitious capital campaigns.

Jamie started working for The Nature Conservancy in 1992 as its NW Colorado Program Manager (1992-1997) where he spearheaded a community-based conservation effort to conserve the Yampa River.
Jamie holds an M.E.S. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (class of ’89) and a B.A. from Yale University (class of ’85).

Jamie came to conservation as a western river guide and wilderness instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). (Wilderness Society, The Hill, 3/5/2012)