Welcome New Board Members
We are thrilled to welcome three new members to the ATCF Board of Directors. Welcome, Nicole Abbott from Wilderness Travel, Amit Sankhala from Encounters Asia, and Jonathan Burnham from Amadeus Style, ATCF’s Marketing Director! These remarkable individuals will add insight and expertise to ATCF’s strategic direction.
Learn more about our new board members:
Nicole Abbott - Wilderness travel
As the vice president of Wilderness Travel, Nicole Abbott has been deeply immersed in the world of adventure travel her entire life. Her father, Bill Abbott, founded Wilderness Travel in 1978 as one of the original adventure travel companies, so Nicole grew up traveling extensively with her family as they scouted exotic new adventures around the globe—exploring pristine ecosystems, building connections with local communities, and meeting with guides and local partners. Nicole worked for eight years in the management consulting industry and received an MBA from Columbia Business School before rejoining Wilderness Travel in 2016. Today, Wilderness Travel remains 100 percent family-owned, with Nicole and her brother Scott managing the business as the second-generation leadership of the company, overseeing everything from itinerary development and trip operations to finance, marketing, and technology.
“We have been members of the ATCF since its founding and have always felt a very strong alignment between the mission and goals of the ATCF and that of Wilderness Travel. We deeply believe in the power of adventure travel to actively support the preservation and protection of the world’s remaining wilderness areas and wildlife, in addition to supporting the livelihoods for millions of people living in the remote corners of the globe. On a personal level, with a young daughter of my own now, I feel more impassioned than ever about the need to conserve and protect our amazing planet and its most special places for future generations. Joining the ATCF Board provides an incredibly exciting opportunity to take an active role in this effort.”
Amit Sankhala - Encounters asia
Born as a grandson of a forest officer and the son of a renowned wildlife tour operator, Amit Sankhala, owner of Encounters Asia, has rambled in the remote Indian forests since he was a month old. Wildlife conservation has remained an integral part of the Sankhala heritage. In addition to owning safari camps in India, Amit has traveled and studied other wildlife conservancies, parks, concessions, and sanctuaries around the world, from places like Okavango Delta in Botswana to the Rain Forests of the Pantanal for Jaguars; Polar Bears In the Arctic to Pumas of Chile; Mountain Gorillas of Uganda to underwater life of the Galapagos. His expeditions to see Snow Leopards gained popularity amongst the wildlife community and have helped set the standard for others to run these expeditions. Currently, he sits on boards of organizations such as Wild Landscapes (USA) & Tiger Trust (India).
“I have always appreciated the work ATCF has done in the Adventure Travel Community. It allows me to be a part of something bigger than just pursuing conservation projects in India, and especially to work with like minded people who are working towards a common goal. Our world is fragile and the travel community is really not helping by promoting mass tourism, where growth comes in a very unsustainable manner. The new era of travel needs to be more sustainable, conscious about their impact and a move towards slow travel. Everyone has a part to play in this mission, especially the communities that live in fragile landscapes. I feel that ATCF has given grants to some amazing organizations and I wish to be a part of that mission. Throughout my travels in the last 20 years, I have been able to form relationships with Lodge owners, non profits, ground operators from around the world. Almost everyone has a conservation side to their business and I hope that my knowledge in that sphere, will contribute to bringing together, a bigger like minded community for ATCF. I say this, not only for the US, but around the world.”
Jonathan Burnham - Amadeus Style
Jonathan Burnham has been a volunteer of the ATCF since shortly after its inception, and has brought to the ATCF his energy and experience leading the marketing for several of the top tour operators in the world, including Wildland Adventures. He’s worked in about every sector of travel, from guiding, trip development, to lodges to tourism boards to developing conservation programs. He currently is a partner in Amadeus Style, a full-service production studio focused on video production and event management. When he’s not trying to save the world, you can catch him swimming in a lake, training for Ironmans, or snowboarding in the backcountry.
A doer, Jonathan has overseen the ATCF’s digital and social communications efforts. As a member of the board, he will help the organization strategize to expand and capitalize on its digital marketing and social outreach efforts.
“At all of my jobs and non-profits, I’ve pushed for not only being more sustainable but to support conservation work. I would like to make a larger impact in the ATCF and continue to help the organization grow.”
The ATCF is excited to welcome Nicole, Amit, and Jonathan to the team. Check out the rest of ATCF’s Board of Directors here!