Meet the people of the World Environment Center

Margaret O’Gorman has operated at the intersection of business and nature for over a decade as the president of the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), where she supports corporate efforts to align nature-positive goals with ESG and EHS priorities. As the author of Strategic Corporate Conservation Planning (Island Press, 2019) she laid out a road map for the private sector to strategize, implement, measure and recognize its impacts on nature. O’Gorman was the lead designer of WHC’s signature Conservation Certification®, which recognizes corporate biodiversity efforts across the globe using an accessible approach that balances operational pragmatism with corporate ambition.

O’Gorman has consulted with Fortune 500 companies like General Motors, Exelon, Chevron, BASF and others to develop strategies and frameworks to integrate biodiversity into business. These strategies have been deployed in companies and along supply chains in 28 countries connecting to larger corporate, social impact and climate goals. She continues to lead WHC’s efforts to support companies seeking to align with frameworks and initiatives like TNFD, SBTN, GRI and others.

Prior to joining WHC, O’Gorman’s work focused on organizational growth and development as a leader and development professional in nature and sustainability focused non-profits, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, New Jersey Future and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. Additionally, she led business development for global educational and scientific publishing companies in the U.K. and the U.S.

O’Gorman is a compelling writer and speaker on the need to act for nature. She uses her platform and audience to promote private sector engagement to restore ecosystems, build climate resilience and connect communities. O’Gorman is an advocate for ambitious, practical and science-based action and especially for connecting the various emerging nature-based frameworks to real change that will improve the health and well-being of our planet and people.

She is a member of the trinational Biodiversity and Climate Change Assessment Guidance Committee, and has served as a committee member for the Convention on Biological Diversity’s efforts on Mainstreaming Biodiversity on a variety of other committees, commissions and initiatives to provide the private sector perspective.

O’Gorman holds a BSc in geology and geophysics from University College Ireland, Galway and a Masters in Micropaleontology from the University of Southampton, U.K.