SACRAMENTO, Calif., Nov. 4, 2025/ PRNewswire/– The Mountain Lion Structure (MLF) is delighted to reveal 2 essential management consultations: Ellen C. O’Connell as Executive Director, efficient November 1, 2025, and Byron Weckworth, Ph.D., as Chief Preservation and Advocacy Officer, efficient November 10, 2025
For almost 40 years, MLF has actually been the country’s prominent voice for America’s lion, promoting landmark success like California’s Proposal 117, safeguarding environment and wildlife passages, and motivating a nationwide motion for coexistence in between individuals and mountain lions. Under O’Connell’s management, MLF will construct on this happy history to deepen collaborations, advance science-based advocacy, and guarantee that the next generation acquires a landscape where individuals and mountain lions can grow together.
O’Connell brings over 3 years of not-for-profit management experience. She acted as CEO of Farm Sanctuary, Executive Director of Tusk U.S.A., and Vice President at the International Rescue Committee, and has actually operated in more than 90 nations throughout 6 continents.
Her work, from safeguarding wildlife in Africa to advancing policy reform for food systems in the United States, constructs on 16 years in humanitarian help, where she saw how the health of individuals, animals, and the world are deeply linked. As Chair of the Wildlife Justice Commission Investigations, she assists expose and take apart criminal networks driving the unlawful wildlife trade, among the most immediate risks to worldwide biodiversity.
” Ellen’s record of turning vision into quantifiable effect makes her a perfect leader for this next chapter,” stated John Ziegler, Chair of the Mountain Lion Structure Board. “She will construct on the Structure’s exceptional 40-year tradition– reinforcing collaborations, advancing advocacy, and broadening defenses for America’s lion.”
Weckworth brings 25 years of experience in worldwide predator preservation and tactical interactions. At Panthera, he led their Snow Leopard Program, established the Preservation Genes Program, and promoted global efforts joining science, policy, and neighborhood engagement to secure wild felines and their environments. He will manage MLF’s science and advocacy portfolio, assisting efforts to advance enduring defenses for mountain lions and the wild landscapes they depend upon.
Together, O’Connell and Weckworth will assist MLF’s next period, structure on its happy tradition of advocacy, science, and storytelling to protect a future where mountain lions and individuals exist side-by-side throughout a linked, prospering landscape.
” I’m deeply honored to have actually been picked to lead Mountain Lion Structure, a company whose tradition has actually specified how America thinks of cougars and coexistence,” stated O’Connell. “MLF’s history is evidence that advocacy, collaboration, and science can alter results for wildlife. I’m delighted to construct on that structure and to work together with our advocates, partners, and neighborhoods to secure America’s lion and the wild locations we share.”
About the Mountain Lion Structure
Established in 1986, MLF is the only company committed solely to safeguarding mountain lions and the wild landscapes they depend upon. Discover more at www.mountainlion.org.
Press Contact:
Mountain Lion Structure
916-442-2666
press@mountainlion.org
SOURCE Mountain Lion Structure