Guy Combes

Aside from his career as an artist, Guy Combes is US Development Director for Soysambu Conservancy and sits on the board of Friends of Soysambu Conservancy, a US based non-profit fundraising organization. He has raised tens of thousands of dollars for a project to build mobile cattle enclosures to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and ensure that lions can continue to roam free on 48,000 acres of ideal habitat in Kenya’s central Rift Valley. This is especially crucial now that lions have been declared “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List due to an alarmingly decreasing population.

Combes has also been involved in activism to stop environmentally insensitive development in the Serengeti and the destructive trade in ivory and rhino horn worldwide. He has raised funds for Action for Cheetahs in Kenya, Amboseli Trust for Elephants, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, and many other grass-roots organizations with whom the artist has a personal connection. Guy has also pioneered an effective way of fundraising on social media with live auction painting sessions, creating the perfect nexus of artist, audience, and conservation philanthropy. Working from his studio in California and dividing his time between the US, England, and Kenya, Guy Combes uses his visibility as an international artist to draw attention to the plight of the wild things and wild places that have been so instrumental in his own development as an artist and as a human being.

Directors & Advisors

With the assistance of our international Board of Directors and Advisory Board, AFC continues to set a standard of excellence as the world's leading non-profit group dedicated to support the environment through art. We are grateful to the people who help strengthen our mission, business practices, partnerships and financial stability by providing their time, talent and expertise to our cause.

Stephen Quinn

Advisor, fmr Director

Stephen C. Quinn is an award-winning artist, naturalist, author and world-authority has spent a lifetime exploring the natural world and working in a career at the intersection of art and science. Quinn joined the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in 1974, after graduating from the Ridgewood School of Art and Design, where he apprenticed under such diorama-art masters as Raymond deLucia, Robert Kane, and David J. Schwendeman.

Victor Elderton

Advisor

In June 2016 Victor retired from his formal education work as a Vice Principal at Norgate Community Elementary in North Vancouver SD. At Norgate he continued his primary work on nature and placed based experiential learning for children and families. Prior to this appointment Victor was a teacher and Principal Co-Administrator for the North Vancouver Outdoor School (re-branded as the Cheakamus Centre) where he worked for 28 years.

Advisor; Signature Member

Aside from his career as an artist, Guy Combes is US Development Director for Soysambu Conservancy and sits on the board of Friends of Soysambu Conservancy, a US based non-profit fundraising organization. He has raised tens of thousands of dollars for a project to build mobile cattle enclosures to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and ensure that lions can continue to roam free on 48,000 acres of ideal habitat in Kenya’s central Rift Valley.

William Whiting

Managing Director; Co-Founder

Bill has 30 years of industrial and trade policy experience with the Canadian Federal Government. A Professional Engineer with a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA), he was a senior executive for a number of years with the Industry Department, where he managed a staff of senior professionals before his retirement.

Antonio Fins

Director

Antonio Fins is the Politics and TrumpWatch editor at the Palm Beach Post. Most recently, Antonio led efforts to cover the 2018 midterm elections and recounts. He curates a weekly newsletter with 122,0000 statewide subscribers and is a producer of two podcasts, Inside Florida Politics and Real Donald Trump. Antonio got his start in journalism as a correspondent for Business Week magazine in the Miami bureau.

Darcy Dobell

Advisor, fmr Director

Darcy Dobell is a seasoned NGO executive known for creativity, authentic community and stakeholder engagement, inspired alliance-building, and operational excellence. She has a strong record of success in organizational leadership and development, and a proven ability to unite diverse interests and teams around shared goals. Darcy also draws on a firmly-rooted personal commitment to ecology and community.

Brent Cooke

Director; Signature Member

Brent is an award-winning bronze artist and world-authority on museum exhibits. A marine biologist by education, Brent's background includes underwater photography, TV and film production and large-scale cultural and natural history projects for museums and cultural institutions,

Dr. Robert Butler

Advisory Board; Signature Member

Dr. Rob Butler is an ornithologist, author, and artist. He holds a graduate degree from Simon Fraser University (MSc) and the University of British Columbia (PhD). He spent 40 years mostly with the Canadian Wildlife Service as a biologist and then a scientist researching birds. Rob is an adjunct professor of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University and has published over 140 works for scientific and popular audiences.

Robert Bateman

Advisory Board (Honorary Chair); Signature Member

Born in Toronto, Robert Bateman has been a keen artist and naturalist from his early days, and is renowned internationally as a force for environmental education and conservation of our natural world. Bateman's artwork has received international critical acclaim and has attracted an enormous and distinguished following. Bateman's realistic painting style, featuring wildlife in its habitat, encourages the viewer to examine the natural world.