§10603 Governance of the Foundation

Summary

Creates a Foundation run by an Executive Director who manages day-to-day work and reports to a Board of Directors. The Board includes five government leaders (the Secretary of State, the USAID Administrator, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and the head of one other relevant agency or their designees) plus 8 people appointed by the Secretary in consultation with those officials and congressional leaders. Of the 8 appointees, 4 must be private donors and 4 must be independent experts with experience in international development, protected-area management and conservation, and international conservation grantmaking. No more than 5 of those 8 appointees may be from the same political party. Appointees serve up to 5 years (the initial eight are split so four serve 4 years, including at least two donors, and four serve 5 years). The Board elects a Chair for a 2-year term, must meet at least once a year, and a majority including the Secretary or their designee is a quorum. Anyone with business ties to an entity that has sought or received Foundation support may not be appointed if those ties existed in the 5 years before appointment. The Board makes bylaws and sets policy. Bylaws must say the Executive Director’s duties; how members, staff, and contractors are chosen; ethical rules for donations and asset handling; conflict-of-interest rules and removal steps; a wind-down plan that returns unspent federal funds to the Treasury and directs unspent private funds to aligned projects; vetting to avoid grants to for-profit groups whose main purpose is not conservation; and clawback rules in grants. Board members serve unpaid but can be reimbursed for actual travel and subsistence costs (foreign travel reimbursed only if at least two members travel together, limited to published per diem, and never first- or business-class). Officers and staff may not be federal employees, may not work for related grantees while employed, may not be paid elsewhere for Foundation work, and their pay should not exceed the Executive Schedule level I maximum. The Foundation must not lobby or take part in political campaigns. Anyone with a direct financial, business, or family interest in an applicant must recuse from decisions, and the Foundation cannot fund entities tied to a current Board member or to a former Board member for 5 years after that member leaves.