Executive Director - Rachel Kramer

Rachel assumed leadership of CPALI in 2024 from the organization’s founder, evolutionary biologist Dr. Catherine Craig. A wildlife conservationist with deep ties to Madagascar, Rachel leads CPALI’s work to regenerate biodiversity and enhance livelihoods through innovation and social enterprise on the margins of the island's largest remaining contiguous forest. Conversant in Malagasy and French, Rachel works hand-in-hand with the Malagasy local organization, Sehatry ny Mpamokatra Landy Ifotony (The Organization of Wild Silk Producers) (SEPALI Madagascar) which CPALI helped to establish as an independent organization in 2006. Together, CPALI and SEPALI Madagascar scale locally-based innovations in sustainable development, nature loss reversal, and regenerative agriculture. Rachel previously spearheaded initiatives with other global conservation organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and TRAFFIC. In her last role, she managed the $30 million USAID global investment on Targeting Natural Resource Corruption. She also ran activities under a Google Global Impact Award focused on technology applications in conservation. Rachel's enduring impact includes helping launch two fora—WILDLABS: The Wildlife Technology Network, and the Countering Environmental Corruption Practitioners Forum. Rachel holds a Masters of Environmental Science from the Yale School of the Environment, where she was a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow, and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Conservation from Brandeis University. Her family’s ties to Madagascar date to the late 1960s. Her own journey in Madagascar began with serving three years in the United States Peace Corps, before being evacuated in the coup of 2009. She now lives in the Washington, DC area.

Lead Artisan at SEPALI Madagascar - Lalaina Raharindimby

Lalaina leads the SEPALI Madagascar artisans association in Maroantsetra, facilitating design of new products made from wild silk and raffia, guiding quality control, and managing human resources and accounting. She has traveled to the US to serve as ambassador for Tanana Madagascar at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe and Shoppe Object's Global Artisan Project in New York. Her designs can be found at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art shop in Washington, DC, among other locations.

Board Chair - Petra Silton

Board chair Petra has been a CPALI supporter since meeting founder Cay in 2010 in an airport in Maroantsetra, Madagascar, homebase for CPALI’s sister organization SEPALI Madagascar. Throughout her career, she has initiated and led groundbreaking programs for nonprofit organizations to address a wide range of issues: the environment, homelessness, education, and civic participation. She has also supported nonprofit capacity-building as a meeting facilitator and strategic planner.

Director and Treasurer - Jill Nelson

Jill has close to 30 years of experience working at Oracle Corporation, currently in the role of Vice President of Oracle Financing Global Operations and Strategy. She has built and managed teams around the globe to support the business in 60+ countries.  Jill has a Bachelor of Science in Political Economy of Natural Resources from the College of Natural Resources at University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters of Business Administration from San Francisco State University. She has joined the CPALI Board because she is passionate about making a difference in the world with a focus on the environment and building community.

Director and Advisor - Dr. Dan Perlman

​​Dan has long been interested in nature, humans, and protecting native ecosystems. He has taught Biology and Environmental Studies at Brandeis University since 2001, where he has served as Associate Provost of Innovation in Education; founding Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning; and Professor. He has co-authored three textbooks on conservation biology and ecology: Conserving Earth’s Biodiversity (an interactive CD-ROM created with Edward O. Wilson); Practical Ecology for Planners, Developers, and Citizens (with Jeffrey C. Milder); and Biodiversity:  Exploring Values and Priorities in Conservation (with Glenn Adelson). He has received university-wide teaching awards at both Brandeis and Harvard and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard’s Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He has also worked with thousands of K-12 students in hands-on science workshops. 

Director - Amelia Thrall

Board member Amelia appreciates CPALI’s support for creative livelihoods in a rural region accessible only by boat or plane and for increasing the stability of farmers’ earnings, both of which can help parents cover the cost of their children’s education. A LEED-accredited architect and architectural firm sustainability manager who has focused on designing spaces for learning and living, she values the biophilic quality of the wild silk textiles sold by Tanana Madagascar.

Founder and Emeritus Advisor - Dr. Catherine Craig

Close observations of the impacts of habitat loss and climate change on spider species led CPALI's founder, Catherine ("Cay") Craig to pivot from field research in ecology and evolutionary biology to become a trailblazing non-profit director. She approached her vision of a wild silk farming program with her scientific knowledge of silk proteins, insects, tropical habitats, and of the critical role of local collaborations. Cay’s fellow scientist Mamy, who shared her interest in scientific research toward environmentally-focused social enterprise, founded a Madagascar-based NGO ensuring that CPALI’s goals would be pursued under local management, and with a sound scientific foundation. Together, Cay and Mamy studied endemic species in areas bordering protected national parks to identify communities where there would be mutual benefits between humans and the environment through silk farming as a form of habitat restoration. By providing education on the positive impacts of locally-based conservation through enterprise, she found support that sustained CPALI’s growth through two decades and created a pathway for the organization to continue to flourish under the leadership of wildlife conservationist, Rachel Kramer.

General Manager - Kyley Schmidt

Soon after Kyley joined the team in 2022, she established the framework for Tanana Madagascar, a vision for sharing wild silk textiles from Madagascar with a broadening international audience. Conversant in Malagasy, she has collaborated with Malagasy silk artisans since 2003, supporting job growth in Madagascar through cultural preservation of the nation’s art forms.  She has served in marketing and management roles for fair trade and environmentally conscious organizations throughout her career.  Kyley holds a BS in Textile Technology and Design from N.C. State University and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Director and SEPALI Madagascar Founder - Mamy Ratsimbazafy

Director and SEPALI Madagascar founder Mamy established his locally-based organization in 2006. A respected entomologist, Mamy continues to perform research focusing on native species that can be integrated into border forests, local agroforestry systems and areas of damaged habitat. Restoring forest habitats is a long-term process involving detailed conservation planning, with species of trees and understory plants that can provide diverse benefits to a community through intercropping. SEPALI Madagascar currently uses silk from Ceranchia apollina, Argema mettrei, Borocera cajani, Antherina suraka, two undescribed species of Deborrea, Hypsoides singularis, and Bombyx mori.  These moths need a wide array of native host plants and each is supported by different habitats in communities around Madagascar. Through his work, Mamy has also become an environmental educator in the region bordering the Makira National Park, reaching more than a thousand school children with lessons on wild silk, and producing a guide to no-kill silkworm rearing used in communities where farmers have embraced silkworm rearing. Farmers involved in the SEPALI Madagascar program have planted tens of thousands of trees for the endemic moths of Madagascar.

Program Specialist - Kai Listgarten

Kai joined CPALI to pursue his passion for positive change through sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and community empowerment. He plays a key role in supporting programs across the organization, with a focus on building and optimizing systems that strengthen operations. Kai developed the organization’s CRM system and continues to advance data management, while also leading communication scheduling, strategic initiatives, and administrative support. Beyond this role, Kai has consulted for authors and gained industry experience through internships at Logitech and Precisely in product marketing and program management, as well as with a nonprofit dedicated to entrepreneurship. He holds a double major in Psychology and Philosophy from Connecticut College, a background that brings both analytical and human-centered perspectives to his work.

Director and Clerk - Lang Liu

A corporate and securities partner in the Palo Alto office of the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Lang focuses on representing technology companies and innovative start-ups, including those in digital health. She works with public and private companies through all stages of their growth, as well as with investment banks and venture capital firms. She also counsels clients on matters such as general corporate governance and public company disclosure.

Emeritus Director - Leslie Brunetta

Seeing new agroforestry and biofuels initiatives initiated by SEPALI Madagascar continues to energize CPALI emeritus board member Leslie. A board member since CPALI was established two decades ago, Leslie appreciates the stability that partner organizations have established in their regions. Growing numbers of farmers and artisans are wanting to work on CPALI-supported programs for a range of motivations, whether it be diminished dependence on single-crop farming with its unpredictable price variations, an appreciation of the environmental goals of the project, funding education or medical needs, or pursuit of a creative career.  Co-author with CPALI founder Cay Craig of Spider Silk: 400 Million Years of Spinning, Waiting, Snagging, and Mating (Yale Univ. Press), Leslie is currently writing with the Cambridge Black History Project in Cambridge, MA. Leslie is most proud of the respect CPALI has for the knowledge, insights, and efforts of our Malagasy management, farmer, and artisan partners.

Emeritus Director - Dr. Robert Weber

Bob served as an advisor for CPALI and SEPALI Madagascar on technology, most recently on the campaign to develop biochar, and contributed to the organization’s recent growth with a steady eye on finances and logistics until June 2025. Before retiring from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2022, he had applied his PhD in chemistry from Stanford University to pursuits in academia, industry and a national laboratory, focusing on renewable fuels and abatement of environmental emissions. He continues to work on environmental efforts and recently taught a short course on recycling waste plastic at Polytechnique Montréal.