Fred Nelson came to SEAS in 2005 after spending 7 years working on community-based conservation efforts in northern Tanzania. After graduating from SEAS in 2006 and spending another four years in East Africa, he established Maliasili while relocating back to the US in 2010. Maliasili is an organization dedicated to supporting local and national conservation organizations across Africa. Their goal is to grow and accelerate the impact of African conservation organizations in order for them to create the greatest difference within their communities. Maliasili supports talented and high-potential grassroots organizations that focus on developing successful community-based conservation models that strengthen local rights over land and natural resources, generate economic incentives for stewardship, and create effective local governance. Now as the CEO of Maliasili, Nelson is proud that the organization has grown to have the impact that it does in supporting a wide array of local and national conservation leaders’ efforts across six countries and over 50 million acres in many of Africa’s most biologically important landscapes.

Nelson drew key motivation and insights from his peers and mentors at SEAS. Through his interactions with colleagues, he has been inspired by their humility, dedication to scholarship, and support. Nelson cites the advice that “if you focus on the results, everything else takes care of itself” as central to his work and motivations as a nonprofit entrepreneur. It is this mindset that drove him to found Maliasili. Nelson believes the conservation field needs to do more to foster entrepreneurship and risk-taking. His desire to achieve results led him to take on risks, think outside the box, find new solutions, and form relationships that have allowed for diverse collaborations with other organizations.

Nelson finds that every day he wakes up feeling a “sense of urgency” to combat injustices around the globe. To create truly meaningful change, he believes everyone should incorporate this mindset into their daily lives. For Nelson, this mentality shows through in all of his goals and entrepreneurial projects as he works to progress the field of conservation in Africa and beyond.