Kacky Andrews is the Chief Conservation Officer for Ocean Conservancy. Prior to this, she served as the Executive Vice President, Global Strategies, for The Nature Conservancy, one of the world’s largest conservation organizations. Prior to taking on this role, Kacky served as the global Managing Director of Protecting Land & Water, the Director of Conservation Programs for North America Region and the Director of Oceans & Coasts for North America. Her background includes several years at NOAA as Program Manager of the Coral Reef Conservation Program and a post as Executive Director of the Coastal States Organization, a DC-based nonprofit that represents interests of the Governors of the 35 coastal states and territories on legislative and policy issues related to coastal and ocean management. A native Floridian, Kacky spent eight years with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, where as Director of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas, she oversaw the management of nearly 2 million acres of sovereign submerged lands in the state system of Aquatic Preserves and three National Estuarine Research Reserves. Kacky also served as Florida’s Co-Trustee in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, initiated Florida’s Coral Reef Conservation Program for southeast Florida and was lead for the state on the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. While in Florida, Kacky also spent almost two years with the Conservancy’s Florida Chapter as the Director of Government Relations. She has a B.A. in Economics from Duke University, a J.D. from the University of Florida and a LL.M. in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College.