ABOUT THE EXPERT:

Marcelo Bonta, J.E.D.I. Heart’s President & Founder, is a thought leader in the environmental, conservation, and climate change movements. He brings two decades of experience, facilitating individual, organizational, and systemic justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) change processes, through process consulting, coaching, advising, trainings, leadership development programs, organizational strategies, writing, and speaking. Bonta owns JEDIHeart.com—a blog for the environmental, conservation, and climate movements about navigating J.E.D.I. with love. He also authored a groundbreaking report, “Transforming a Movement: How foundations can support effective Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) capacity building efforts in environmental organizations.” The report provides the current state of DEI capacity building in environmental organizations and a “how to” guide on advancing DEI effectively. Bonta’s JEDI expertise in the environmental, conservation, and climate change movements is often tapped and requested for interviews, speaking engagements, and leadership coaching. Originally trained as a conservation biologist, Bonta decided to dedicate his career to JEDI after finding himself the sole programmatic person of color at a national conservation organization, experiencing firsthand the diversity challenge in mainstream environmental groups. His experience led Bonta to create the Center for Diversity & the Environment and run it for a decade, providing transformational leadership development programs and trainings for thousands of leaders. During this time, he also founded the Environmental Professionals of Color, a network for leaders of color to survive, thrive, lead, and innovate. As a previous funder, Bonta co-created a new environmental portfolio with racial equity at its core and co-developed the DEI capacity building grantmaking arm at Meyer Memorial Trust. He also spent time as a Principal in The Raben Group’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practice. Bonta has a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University and a joint M.S. in Biology and Environmental Policy from Tufts University. Bonta is driven by his vision of a future where his daughters may thrive in whatever occupation and lifestyle they choose; the need to carve pathways through institutional and systemic challenges; his love for wildlife; and his faith.

CONTACT:

Contact Marcelo Bonta at Experts@diversegreen.org.