Rebecca Schwartz Lesberg is the president and founder of Coastal Policy Solutions, a boutique, full-service consulting firm that works with partners throughout California to advance conservation action that supports people and wildlife. Rebecca works at the intersection of science and policy to protect California’s sensitive habitats and natural resources, understand the ecology of wildlife and their environment, and integrate habitat restoration with community engagement and landscape-scale conservation planning.
Before starting Coastal Policy Solutions, Rebecca led on-the-ground conservation, restoration, and policy work with the Audubon Society, first as the Director of Conservation at San Diego Audubon and more recently as the San Francisco Bay Program Director for Audubon California. Prior to this, Rebecca served as Adjunct Faculty at the University of San Diego and was a Field Biologist for AMEC Foster Wheeler, an environmental consulting firm.
Rebecca currently serves as the Board Chair for the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, a division of the National Migratory Bird Joint Venture Program. Since 2010, she has helped raise over $5 million in grant funds to support grassroots conservation efforts across the state. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecology from UC San Diego and a Master of Science in Marine Science from the University of San Diego. Rebecca has been published in the San Diego Union Tribune and featured in the Los Angeles Times, and was awarded a 2014 President’s Volunteer Service Award from President Barack Obama.