The David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced today that Meg Caldwell will join the Foundation as Deputy Director, Oceans. She will lead the Foundation’s Oceans and Fisheries team in this newly created role within the Conservation and Science Program.
Caldwell will help the Foundation manage growth in the scale and ambition of our oceans-related grantmaking, provide strategic direction across our subprograms, foster the increasingly team-oriented approach to this work, and help to amplify the work of our Foundation and our grantees as a thought leader on ocean conservation issues. She is scheduled to begin at the Foundation on April 6.
“I am delighted to have Meg join us in this new role at the Foundation—her deep knowledge of ocean issues and proven experience in the field makes her an ideal fit to lead our Oceans and Fisheries teams,” said Carol Larson, President and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. “Meg’s background complements the expertise of the Foundation’s program staff and of our grantee partners, something that is critically important as the Foundation continues to grow our oceans-related grantmaking.”
Prior to joining the Foundation, for the past 20 years Caldwell has been the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Program Director at Stanford University Law School. While at Stanford, since 2007, she has also been the Executive Director of the Center for Ocean Solutions (COS), a long-term Foundation partner in our work on ocean conservation. COS is a collaboration among Stanford University (through the Stanford Woods Institute and the Hopkins Marine Station), the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Caldwell played a critical role in the creation of COS and has led the organization in the development of a Pacific Ocean-wide assessment of the major threats to marine and coastal ecosystems, along with the communities that depend on them—the first assessment of its kind. She also served as a Senior Consultant to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The Commission ultimately adopted a majority of the recommendations for regulatory reform that were developed by COS.
Caldwell served on the California Coastal Commission from 2004-2007 and 2009-2012, including two years as its chairperson during which time she also served on the board of the California Coastal Conservancy. She is also an honorary professor in the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, Australia.
“The Packard Foundation supports grantees who are doing some of the world’s most important work around protecting our oceans and bringing balance to how we interact with and benefit from them,” said Caldwell. “I very much look forward to working with the Foundation’s program staff and our grantee partners to continue and build on the great progress they have made.”
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1994, Caldwell was an instructor at San Jose State University; an associate in the environmental law group of McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen; and a Policy Analyst with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. Caldwell holds a B.S. in business administration (with an emphasis on economic analysis and policy) from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.
