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Board of Directors and Advisors
Our Leadership
Manda Kalimian,
Founder
Manda Kalimian is the founder and president of the Rewilding America Now, which for over a decade ago has worked to rewild America’s wild horses and land to promote environmental and climate sustainability. Through Rewilding America Now, Manda has not only raised awareness of issues surrounding America’s wild horses and environmental destruction but she’s also led major change in Washington.
Manda is the author of “Born To Rewild” Triumphs of a Now Fearless Woman. She helped secure a scientific grant funding McMaster University’s Poinar lab on Quarternary ecosystems using environmental DNA drawn from sediment cores (sedaDNA), with a primary goal of collecting additional evidence regarding last appearance times for horses in North America.
Manda has worked lobbyists for years to create sustainable policy initiatives in DC for wild horses. She is an active participant at The Native Congress of The American Indian (NCAI) and a founding member of The Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University. She spearheaded the effectuation of rewilding language for managing America’s wild horses in the FY2020 Interior Appropriations budget bill and presented at the Cambridge Conservation Forum, 2019.
Manda is the author of “Born To Rewild” Triumphs of a Now Fearless Woman. She helped secure a scientific grant funding McMaster University’s Poinar lab on Quarternary ecosystems using environmental DNA drawn from sediment cores (sedaDNA), with a primary goal of collecting additional evidence regarding last appearance times for horses in North America.
Manda has worked lobbyists for years to create sustainable policy initiatives in DC for wild horses. She is an active participant at The Native Congress of The American Indian (NCAI) and a founding member of The Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University. She spearheaded the effectuation of rewilding language for managing America’s wild horses in the FY2020 Interior Appropriations budget bill and presented at the Cambridge Conservation Forum, 2019.
Michael Nathanson,
Managing Director/CEO
Michael Nathanson is a senior executive with over four decades of experience in the motion picture and entertainment industry.
As a leader in the entertainment industry, Michael has overseen and participated in every facet of the industry, from operational and production aspects to development, marketing, and distribution, often handling annual budgets of one billion dollars. He has served as Chairman or President of three major motion picture companies and studios, including MGM Studios, Columbia Pictures, and New Regency. Michael has produced numerous acclaimed films, including the Academy Award-winning "LA CONFIDENTIAL" and the Academy Award-nominated "HELL OR HIGH WATER." Notably, he played a pivotal role in the rejuvenation and management of both the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises.
Michael's journey takes an exciting new turn as he assumes the role of Managing Director/CEO at Rewilding America Now. This transition signifies his dedication to environmental conservation and rewilding initiatives. Michael now turns his attention towards the urgent need for environmental preservation and the protection of the remarkable animals that inhabit our world.
Michael was originally brought in to create media content for Rewilding America Now. "Once I got to the Dakotas and met the independent ranchers and Native Americans, who I call stewards of the land, I was taken aback by their connection to the horses and the lands, and how they work together to save and propagate their lands, challenging the status quo. These ranchers and Native Americans along with these wild horses are American heroes to the lands, the environment and our future."
As a leader in the entertainment industry, Michael has overseen and participated in every facet of the industry, from operational and production aspects to development, marketing, and distribution, often handling annual budgets of one billion dollars. He has served as Chairman or President of three major motion picture companies and studios, including MGM Studios, Columbia Pictures, and New Regency. Michael has produced numerous acclaimed films, including the Academy Award-winning "LA CONFIDENTIAL" and the Academy Award-nominated "HELL OR HIGH WATER." Notably, he played a pivotal role in the rejuvenation and management of both the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises.
Michael's journey takes an exciting new turn as he assumes the role of Managing Director/CEO at Rewilding America Now. This transition signifies his dedication to environmental conservation and rewilding initiatives. Michael now turns his attention towards the urgent need for environmental preservation and the protection of the remarkable animals that inhabit our world.
Michael was originally brought in to create media content for Rewilding America Now. "Once I got to the Dakotas and met the independent ranchers and Native Americans, who I call stewards of the land, I was taken aback by their connection to the horses and the lands, and how they work together to save and propagate their lands, challenging the status quo. These ranchers and Native Americans along with these wild horses are American heroes to the lands, the environment and our future."
Jacqueline Kapur,
CFO
Jackie is a founding partner at Ignition Capital and a former divisional CFO at a multi-billion-dollar, privately-held global firm based in New York.
Through her 15-year corporate finance career, Jackie has a proven track record of formulating and executing strategies & budgets for both start-ups and established businesses.
She is a thoughtful and experienced leader in finance, business development, operation, marketing, and HR across industries including information technology, news, research, data, financial services, and consumer products.
Excellent communication and people skills with significant experience navigating C-level management through major strategic changes.
Through her 15-year corporate finance career, Jackie has a proven track record of formulating and executing strategies & budgets for both start-ups and established businesses.
She is a thoughtful and experienced leader in finance, business development, operation, marketing, and HR across industries including information technology, news, research, data, financial services, and consumer products.
Excellent communication and people skills with significant experience navigating C-level management through major strategic changes.
Dr Ross MacPhee,
Science Director
Ross MacPhee Ph.D., is Rewilding America Now's scientific advisor and a curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Ross is a biologist specializing in mammals that are now extinct, especially those that lived in recent prehistory (last 2 million years).
He has searched for recently-lost species all over the world, seeking to explain not only their biological relationships but why they died out. Using both fossils and modern genomic methods, he and his colleagues are seeking to show that all modern horses, whether domestic or wild, have ancestries that ultimately originated in North America.
He was curator of the AMNH exhibition The Horse (2008) and the author of End of the Megafauna (Norton, 2019), an account of species disappearances worldwide after the end of the last Ice Age–– including the mysterious loss of the horse in North America.
He has searched for recently-lost species all over the world, seeking to explain not only their biological relationships but why they died out. Using both fossils and modern genomic methods, he and his colleagues are seeking to show that all modern horses, whether domestic or wild, have ancestries that ultimately originated in North America.
He was curator of the AMNH exhibition The Horse (2008) and the author of End of the Megafauna (Norton, 2019), an account of species disappearances worldwide after the end of the last Ice Age–– including the mysterious loss of the horse in North America.
Samantha Skenandore,
Director of Legal Council
Samantha Skenandore focuses her practice on both federal Indian law and tribal law, advising tribal and corporate clients in tribal governance, corporate governance, governmental affairs, corporate transactions, real estate, labor issues and litigation.
Her extensive multijurisdictional experience with tribal law includes representation of corporate entities, both tribal and nontribal, in matters involving participation in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, corporate entity formation, financing, minority or women-owned certification, labor relations, complex commercial real estate matters and government relations.
She also advises corporate clients on developing successful strategies to launch their businesses, seek and secure business certifications, build capacity and prosper.
Samantha is an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Her extensive multijurisdictional experience with tribal law includes representation of corporate entities, both tribal and nontribal, in matters involving participation in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, corporate entity formation, financing, minority or women-owned certification, labor relations, complex commercial real estate matters and government relations.
She also advises corporate clients on developing successful strategies to launch their businesses, seek and secure business certifications, build capacity and prosper.
Samantha is an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Dr Dave Stricklan,
Executive Director
Rewilding Idaho
Dave Stricklan, Ph.D., is Rewilding America Now's rangeland and wildlife scientific advisor.
He is a retired Range and Wildlife Professor from Brigham Young University-Idaho and former Visiting Animal and Range Science Professor at New Mexico State University.
Earlier in his career he worked for twelve years as a wildlife biologist and rangeland conservationist for the USDA Forest Service.
Dave grew up on working ranches in Idaho. He is the discoverer of two fossil species from the Carboniferous (325 mya). He can usually be found wandering the mountains and passes of the Yellowstone to Central Idaho Wildlife Corridor.
He is a retired Range and Wildlife Professor from Brigham Young University-Idaho and former Visiting Animal and Range Science Professor at New Mexico State University.
Earlier in his career he worked for twelve years as a wildlife biologist and rangeland conservationist for the USDA Forest Service.
Dave grew up on working ranches in Idaho. He is the discoverer of two fossil species from the Carboniferous (325 mya). He can usually be found wandering the mountains and passes of the Yellowstone to Central Idaho Wildlife Corridor.
Wouter Helmer,
Science Advisor
Wouter Helmer is the co-founder of Rewilding Europe and Programme Manager of GRAZELIFE, a project at the request of the European Commission to come up with recommendations for effective grazing systems regarding climate adaptation, biodiversity, and other ecosystem services.
Wouter brings to Rewilding America Now's Science Advisory Board over 30 years of experience with rewilding projects on this continent.
Wouter brings to Rewilding America Now's Science Advisory Board over 30 years of experience with rewilding projects on this continent.
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