Governor Inslee appoints Deborah Jensen to Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council

Governor Jay Inslee has appointed Deborah Jensen, PhD, of Seattle, to the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council. Ms. Jensen has extensive experience as an executive leading conservation and scientific organizations in Washington state and internationally. Until last year, she served as CEO and President of Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo.

“Deborah Jensen understands that a healthy, sustainable Puget Sound is critical to the vitality of our region—to our ecosystem, our economy, and the legacy we are building for the next generations,” said Governor Inslee. “Deborah’s expertise in leading nonprofit boards and organizations and working with local government will help the Leadership Council to become ever more effective in navigating the waters of Puget Sound recovery.”

Named by Seattle Business Magazine as a recipient of the 2015 Executive Excellence Award and by the Puget Sound Business Journal as a recipient of the 2009 Women of Influence Award, Ms. Jensen currently serves as principal for Jensen and Associates. The firm offers consulting services on business and conservation strategy, organizational change, and board development. She is also a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the University of Washington, College of the Environment.

“Deborah Jensen’s background in conservation biology coupled with her business acumen makes her an ideal addition to the Leadership Council,” said Sheida Sahandy, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “I look forward to the insights she will contribute as we work together to recover Puget Sound.”

From 2002 to 2015, Ms. Jensen shepherded the 100-year-old Woodland Park Zoo in its transition to nonprofit management and built strong education and conservation programs. Before moving to the Northwest, she served as Vice President of The Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Science Division, at its world headquarters, in Arlington, Virginia. She holds masters and doctorate degrees in Energy and Resources and an undergraduate degree in Botany from the University of California Berkeley.

Ms. Jensen’s community involvement includes serving as current Vice-Chair of the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. She has also served as a member of the Seattle Community Development Roundtable; member of the Board of Directors, Association of Zoos and Aquariums; and as President and Board member, Society for Conservation Biology.

“I am honored for the opportunity to put my experience as a non-profit executive and scientist to the important work of the recovery of the Puget Sound,” said Ms. Jensen.

Ms. Jensen’s term on the Leadership Council runs through June 25, 2019. She fills the vacancy left by retiring Leadership Council member, Diana Gale, who has served three terms as a Council member.

“Diana came to the newly formed Partnership Leadership Council already an internationally recognized trailblazer on issues of sustainability and water who loaned this effort her heart and soul and brains for nearly a decade,” said Martha Kongsgaard, Leadership Council chair. “Her insistence on tackling the intractable while remaining highly optimistic were her signature, which will be greatly missed.”