Mark Van Putten is President and CEO of the Wege Foundation, a private foundation based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mark is also current Chair of the Board of the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Previously he was President of ConservationStrategy® LLC, a philanthropic advisory firm specializing in environmental and natural resources issues with deep experience in founding and funding collaborations and coalitions. Mark also served for 21 years on the staff of National Wildlife Federation, including nearly eight years as President and CEO. He founded and led for 14 years NWF’s Great Lakes office and the University of Michigan’s Environmental Law Clinic. Mark’s advocacy and litigation career focused on water-related issues at all levels of decision making – international, national, regional and local. On the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, he was named one of 30 nationwide “Clean Water Heroes.”
Mark is a graduate magna cum laude of and currently serves as a part-time Public Service/Public Interest Law Fellow at the University of Michigan Law School. He is also a part-time Visiting Scholar in the Energy and Climate Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.