Benji Backer

Benji Backer is the Founder and CEO of United By Nature, which is building the next generation of America’s environmental movement. He's also the founder of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), which he launched his freshman year of college.

A bestselling author of The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future, Benji has been named a NYTimes Changemaker, an honoree on the TIME 100 Climate list, and awarded the Fortune 40 Under 40, Forbes 30 Under 30, GreenBiz 30 Under 30, and Grist 50.

Benji serves on multiple boards and commissions, including America’s Rural Future (the Brookings-AEI Commission on U.S. Rural Prosperity) and the Children & Nature Network.

Benji proudly grew up in Wisconsin, where he fell in love with the state’s natural beauty and its sports teams. Above all, Backer is an avid hiker and skier who spends most of his free time in the mountains out west. He’s a proud graduate of the University of Washington and currently resides in Arizona with his wife, Zayna.