Cait Williamson

Cait Williamson (Madison, Wisconsin) is the director of conservation for the Natural Resources Foundation (NRF) of Wisconsin, where she leads the organization’s funding programs and initiatives for conservation and environmental education. She works closely with partners across the state to ensure that NRF has the most significant impact possible on Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife through strategic, science-based investments, while leading diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the organization and Wisconsin’s conservation community.

Williamson has 15 years of experience in the environmental conservation field, with expertise in conservation planning, development, and partnership building. She earned her master’s in environmental conservation from UW–Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and a bachelor’s in biology and environmental studies from Lawrence University.

Williamson is a CCNET coach for the internationally used Conservation Standards, she is cochair of the advisory council for the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts, and she cofounded the Wisconsin Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with husband, Miguel, and their dog, Sydney.

Williamson is a recipient of the 2023 Rising Star Alumni Award.