Julia Novy-Hildesley

Executive Director

Julia Novy-Hildesley is Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation. Along with a team of advisors and staff, Julia develops and implements The Foundation’s domestic and international programs and oversees Foundation operations.

Julia was previously the Director of the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) California office where she spearheaded the organization’s strategy for marine conservation and public outreach on the West Coast of the United States, and implemented WWF’s program to promote certification and eco-labeling of well-managed fisheries in developing countries.

Prior to joining WWF, Julia conducted research in Madagascar, funded by a Fulbright Scholarship. She analyzed the potential for non-timber forest products to serve as economic alternatives to slash and burn agriculture in the island’s rain forests. She continued working in this domain for the USAID in Madagascar and the World Bank in Washington D.C. Julia has worked with government agencies and non-governmental organizations in Tanzania, Bolivia and French Polynesia, identifying strategies for economic growth that sustain natural resources.

Julia earned a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in International Development from the Institute for Development Studies at Sussex University in the United Kingdom, funded by a Marshall Scholarship. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology with a Minor in African Studies, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University. Julia serves on the John F. Kennedy School of Government Women’s Leadership Board, the Board of the World Affairs Council of Oregon, the Board of Directors of Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington, the Board of Advisors of the Anwarul Quadir Foundation, and the Editorial Board of Innovations, a journal published by the MIT Press. Her writing has been published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Innovations, and the Far Eastern Economic Review. A Fellow of the Donella Meadows Leadership Fellows Program, Julia was recognized as one of Portland Business Journal's 2008 “Forty leading business people under the age of 40,” and featured in Oregon Business Magazine’s 2005 “50 Great Leaders for Oregon.” She speaks French, Spanish and Kiswahili.