MEET THE HNP BOARD
Doug Tallamy
Cofounder
Doug Tallamy is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 111 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 41 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His books include Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, Nature's Best Hope, a New York Times Best Seller, The Nature of Oaks, winner of the American Horticultural Society’s 2022 book award. In 2020 he cofounded Homegrown National Park with Michelle Alfandari. His awards include recognition from The Garden Writer’s Association, Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, Allegheny College, Ecoforesters, The Garden Club of America and The American Horticultural Association
Michelle Alfandari
Michelle is a business development consultant, entrepreneur, and business owner. As founder and CEO of MODA Licensing, established in 1988, she had the opportunity to work with a global and diverse client base of corporations and non-profits building new businesses and revenue streams from intellectual property. Clients included The New York Times, Snap-on Tools, Ritz - Paris, Victoria and Albert Museum, Tour de France, National Trust for Historic Preservation, LYCRA®, Mack Trucks, America’s Vet Dogs, Better Homes & Gardens, Bushnell, The Henry Ford Museum, UNICEF, COTY Beauty and UNIPAL Corrugated Pallets. In 2020 she co-founded Homegrown National Park with Doug Tallamy. She is founder of Retimement® and is certified in executive coaching and applied positive psychology
Steve Castorani
Owner North Creek Nurseries, Inc and co-owner of American Beauties Native Plants LLC: co-owner Gateway Garden Center, Delaware. He also serves on the boards of International Plant Propagators Society & Brandywine Red Clay Alliance.
Ken Monteiro
Secretary & Treasurer
A lawyer who spent most of his career working in philanthropy. He retired in 2019 as vice president, secretary and general counsel of the Ford Foundation. Before joining the Ford Foundation in 1995, he was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton. He serves on the boards of Drug Policy Action, the advocacy and political arm of the Drug Policy Alliance, the Amenia Garden Club and Mad Gardeners. He was previously on the boards of Philanthropy New York, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development and the Lesbian and Gay Law Association Foundation of Greater New York.
Dennis Liu
An internationally recognized expert in science education and educational media. Mid-career Dennis shifted his focus from molecular medicine to what E.O. Wilson called “the little things that run the world,” – from ants to hummingbirds to pitcher plants, the millions of other species our very lives depend on. He is Vice President of Education for the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.
David Roth
David (Dave) Roth is an information technology executive with over 30 years of progressive personnel and technical leadership across a variety of industries including financial services, commercial software development, non-profits, media, consulting, and Internet marketing.
Dave retired from the Ford Foundation as Chief Technology Officer in December 2020, after having served in that capacity for close to 8 years. Previously, he served for 10 years as CIO at The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset investment firm. Prior to joining Carlyle, Dave was CTO at Shop2U.com, a Virginia start-up that offered personalized email marketing services to retail cataloguers. Mr. Roth also served for 8 years as SVP of Information Systems and Services at Discovery Communications during a period of dynamic expansion in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Leonora Wiener
Leonora is an executive coach and strategy consultant. Until June of 2022, she was the senior vice president, chief operating officer of Consumer Reports. At CR, she led the team that delivered a top-to-bottom refresh of the brand, reconnecting the organization to its purpose, changing from a subscription business to a membership model, and creating new products and services that would be relevant for today’s consumer. Prior to that, she was the director of communications at the Ford Foundation and executive editor of InStyle magazine.