Biography of Tanya Trevor Saunders
Executive Director of AEFF
Tanya Trevor Saunders has been instrumental in the running of the Foundation ever since its launch in 1998. She was one of the founding Directors of AEFF, who played an integral role in formulating the concept of the Foundation, and laying down its guiding principles, and has been actively involved with the Foundation’s work for the past 10 years. She has been a key player in fundraising for the Foundation, not only through liaising with personal donors, but through the writing of successful grant proposals to organizations such as the Ford Foundation (total $250,000) and the US Fish & Wildlife Service (total $60,000), among others.
Tanya’s career to date has given her the skills and experience necessary to carry out the many diverse roles demanded by heading up the strategic development of AEFF, combining her creativity with her commercial experience and a strong administrative capability. Her upbringing in Africa (enhanced by a British education) and her love of nature have lead to a lifelong interest in Africa’s wildlife and wild places. Her understanding of “the big picture” allows her to approach the job of steering the Foundation with a clear overall vision.
Tanya has overseen the writing of all AEFF’s narrations since the launch of the Foundation in 1998. The narration is a key element of any film, being critical in conveying the overall message, not only of each film, but of the Foundation as a whole.
Since re-joining AEFF full-time as an Executive Director in October 2007, her main role has been the formulation of an ambitious Expansion Plan for the Foundation. Meanwhile, she has been responsible for significantly raising the profile of the Foundation through networking and reinvigorating the AEFF brand. The covers she designed for all the AEFF DVDs project the same level of professionalism and quality with which the films themselves are made.
The new simple but effective website Tanya designed and continues to maintain has attracted the attention of people all over the world, from educators in American schools and universities wishing to use AEFF’s films as teaching tools in their own classrooms, to village members in remote African regions reporting environmental issues near their homes which they feel should be documented on film and requesting film showings in their communities. The website has also triggered approaches from professional film makers from UK to Finland, offering their services to AEFF.
On the distribution front, Tanya has re-ignited old contacts with AEFF’s distribution partners, and has actively sought new ones, sending films as far afield as environmental education centers in Namibia, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and providing an online portal via the AEFF website for organizations to request films to use as teaching tools. A broadcasting deal has been signed with a Kenyan television channel, and discussions are underway with a new African satellite TV provider, which aims to provide an affordable service across the continent.
The newly raised profile of the Foundation has attracted the attention of international conservation networks, resulting in interview requests, invitations to participate in international Film Festivals, and recently an invitation to become a participating member of WildlifeDirect, the online conservation and fundraising hub founded and chaired by the eminent conservationist, Dr Richard Leakey – the latter leading to Tanya initiating (and now maintaining) a new blog called Filming Wild, on the WildlifeDirect platform.
