Ethan Budiansky

Ethan Budiansky serves as Senior Director of Environment and leads WCF’s overarching strategy on addressing environmental sustainability across the cocoa sector. Heading both the Climate Smart Cocoa Program and the Cocoa and Forest Initiative, he helps cocoa and chocolate companies advance their environmental sustainability commitments, addressing deforestation and the impact of climate change in cocoa growing regions. Ethan also co-leads the Cocoa Livelihoods Program to improve farm-level productivity and the livelihoods of cocoa farmers.

Ethan has over 15 years of experience in climate change adaptation in agriculture, natural resource management, conservation, agroforestry and international development. Prior to joining WCF, he was Head of International Programs at Trees for the Future, where he managed agroforestry and sustainable agriculture programs in Africa and the Caribbean. Ethan was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal from 2001 to 2003. He holds a B.A. in Zoology from Connecticut College, a M.A. in International Affairs from American University in Washington, DC and a M.A. in Natural Resource Management from the University for Peace in Costa Rica.