Director
Executive Director of the Centre for Land Conservation
Board member since 2026
Lara Ellis has spent her career working at the intersection of land, nature, and the communities that depend on both. Currently the Executive Director of the Centre for Land Conservation, she brings deep experience in conservation sector strategy, philanthropy, and the policy conditions that determine whether conservation succeeds in Canada.
At ALUS Canada, Lara helped scale a groundbreaking program supporting nature restoration on working farms and ranches through payments for ecosystem services — experience that connects directly to Generate Canada's Nature Investment Hub and CANZA mandates. At the Ivey Foundation, she developed expertise in conservation philanthropy and funder strategy, supporting cross-sector efforts to mobilize capital for nature.
Earlier in her career, Lara worked on protected areas establishment and sustainable forestry with Wildlands League and Nature Canada — experience that grounded her in the on-the-ground realities of conservation policy and land stewardship. That foundation, combined with her subsequent work in ecological goods and services, conservation philanthropy, and sector capacity-building, gives her a whole-landscape perspective on what it takes to move conservation from commitment to action in Canada.
Lara holds a BA and a Master of Management from McGill University, where she completed the McGill-McConnell program — a pioneering graduate degree designed for leaders in Canada's non-profit and voluntary sectors.