Mission
Conservation Volunteers International Program is dedicated to conservation and preservation of some of the world’s greatest landscapes and cultural sites.
We accomplish this mission by providing opportunities for ordinary citizens to get their hands dirty doing extraordinary volunteer services. We engage others in our work, including local park rangers and managers, local government, other non-profits, businesses, academia. Working together, we repair trails, restore archaeological sites, replant vegetation, protect fish and wildlife, encourage community support, and learn from each other. We make a difference in our world.
Conservation VIP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax deductible. For the protection of volunteers, Conservation VIP is also registered as a California Seller of Travel, Number 2089890-40. For additional information regarding our management, responsibilities, and cancellation policies, click here. To download a pdf of our latest financial statements, click here.
Officers & Directors
Richard B. Tobin, Co-founder, Director of New Program Development, Board member
As a park ranger for three decades with the National Park Service and other national agencies, Rich advocated for sustainable management of natural and cultural resources in diverse American landscapes, from California’s urban-wild land interface to the wilds of Alaska. While visiting international parks as a tourist, Rich came to believe that his ranger skills could make a significant contribution to the protection of national parks around the world. This led to a series of pilot volunteer projects beginning in 2005 and the creation of the nonprofit Conservation Volunteers International Program (Conservation VIP) in 2007.
Rich earned his undergraduate degree in Environmental Planning at the University of California, Davis, and his Masters in Natural Resources Management from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. When not leading volunteer expeditions, Rich enjoys mountaineering, sailing and surfing from his home base in Santa Barbara, California, and international travel.
John P. Hollinrake, Co-founder, Executive Director, Board member
John has practiced law in California for twenty-eight years. He graduated from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in 1980, and received a B.A. in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University in 1977. John has provided legal services to numerous nonprofit organizations in California since his admission to the State Bar of California in 1980. He also has extensive experience in the area of travel law and travel agency operations.
Together with Rich Tobin, John co-founded Conservation Volunteers International Program in 2007. He currently serves as the volunteer Executive Director. He has participated in four Conservation VIP volunteer projects in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, and was the March 2008 Torres del Paine Group Leader, leading a group of 26 volunteers from the United States, Chile, Ireland, and the Czech Republic.
John has been involved in parks and conservation issues throughout his life. During high school he worked as a seasonal park aide for the California State Parks in southern California. In 1976 he was hired as a seasonal Ranger Naturalist in Yosemite National Park and worked there until 1981, when he opened a law practice in Sonora, California near Yosemite. John resides in Oregon with his wife, Catherine, and daughter Julianne.
Christine Braunlich, Chief Executive Officer, Board member
Chris served as Director and volunteer Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer since September 2009, before taking on the responsibilities of CEO in 2011. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in finance, from the University of California at Berkeley. She worked for thirteen years in a variety of international lending, corporate lending, treasury management and project financing functions at Bank of America. She then worked for ten years as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Guy F. Atkinson Company of California, a publicly held international construction, manufacturing, and pipe distribution company, as well as at DNA Plant Technology, a biotechnology company.
Chris previously volunteered as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Bay Area Model Mugging, a nonprofit that provides self-defense training to women and children, and she served for ten years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate with CASA of Contra Costa County. She has participated in four CVIP volunteer trips to Torres del Paine and one CVIP trip to Machu Picchu. She lives in Briones, California and spends as much of her free time as possible hiking in the mountains with her husband.
Gene Zimmerman, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Gene is a founding board member of Conservation Volunteers International Program. He spent 44 years with the U.S. Forest Service, working at all levels of the organization. Notably he was a District Ranger on the Mt. Hood National Forest and retired as Forest Supervisor on the San Bernardino National Forest, probably the most complex Forest in the National Forest System. Gene spent four years as Legislative Staff for the Washington Office of the Forest Service, with responsibility for all recreation-related issues, including National Recreation Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Recreation Trails. Gene wrote and advocated for over 50 pieces of legislation that became law. Gene had a national reputation for his work developing partnerships, volunteer programs, and youth employment programs. While a Ranger in the Columbia River Gorge, Gene’s volunteer program averaged 100 people per day, three times the paid staff. Gene also started the National Forest Association, a non-profit chartered to support the San Bernardino National Forest. The Association is considered the model non-profit in the Forest Service. In 2003, Gene was awarded the Department of Agriculture’s Superior Service Award, the highest award in the Department. He has also been awarded the Legend Award by the American Recreation Coalition.
Jeffery J. Mitchell, Chief Financial Officer, Board member
In addition to serving as CFO, Jeff heads the social media initiatives for the group. He is a grants analyst with American Public Media Group in Minneapolis, MN, prior to which he spent more than eight years in the finance and investments industry. He has a Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University School of Law, an MBA from Seattle University, and a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State University. Jeff has volunteered with a diverse set of organizations in the areas of sustainability, ethical leadership, animal welfare, technical editing and entrepreneur advising. He and his wife Leah are enthusiastic travelers, hikers, and cultural experience collectors who have “only” hit four continents so far.
Celia Dunlap, Secretary and Director
Celia began practicing law in 1978. She earned her law degree from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, after obtaining an undergraduate degree from Mount Saint Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. She was in-house counsel for a major corporation, and then in private practice before accepting a position with the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Her practice was in state tax litigation and employment, before she retired after twenty-seven years of service. Based in Lexington, Kentucky, she has turned her interests in outdoor activities to the stewardship of natural resources and cultural treasures. Having witnessed first hand the positive impact her contribution made as a volunteer on CVIP’s trip to Machu Picchu in April 2009, upon her return home to Kentucky, Celia joined the Board and began supporting Conservation VIP’s goals through presentations and writing.
David B. Hunsaker, Director
Dave spent more than forty years managing the nation’s public lands in the western United States. He has managed a variety of cultural, paleontological, scenic and natural resources, and has held leadership positions throughout the western states including managing Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Dave served in Washington, D.C., as the Deputy Director for the National Landscape Conservation System of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). He retired from federal service as the Associate State Director for BLM-Colorado.
Dave has been actively involved in all phases of forming, managing, and collaborating with volunteer organizations for more than thirty years. He has served as federal liaison to advisory boards and has written policy documents for BLM use nationally. He has planned and implemented countless volunteer projects in the field. He currently provides guidance and counsel to several volunteer organizations.
Jonathan Stephens, Director
Jonathan is a founding board member of Conservation Volunteers International Program. He is currently program manager for trails and congressionally designated areas for the U.S. Forest Service. Prior to his work with the Forest Service, Jonathan worked in the US Senate as a legislative assistant on natural resource issues and has worked with the National Park Service as a planner. Jonathan has traveled to Europe, South America and Central America and is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership Program. Jonathan has participated in CVIP trips to Torres del Paine and to Machu Picchu. Jonathan is an active volunteer for trails in the Washington DC area. He enjoys traveling, hiking, and bicycling.
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