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Terry C. Pelster
Spirit of Defenders Award for Citizen Advocacy
For the 2009 Spirit of Defenders Award for Citizen Advocacy, we could not imagine anyone more deserving than Terry Pelster. Terry has served Defenders for 24 years, including 21 years on Defenders’ Board and three years as Board Chair, all of them as an active advocate of the organization and its mission, particularly the campaign to halt international trade in wildlife. An avid bird lover since childhood, Terry worked alongside Defenders’ staff to win passage of the Wild Bird Conservation Act in 1992. She has worked tirelessly on behalf of parrot conservation in Brazil, Guatemala, the Caribbean and Mexico, where, over the last year, she has taken a key role in supporting Defenders’ program to raise public awareness of the illegal wild parrot trade.
In addition to her conservation advocacy, Terry has been unstinting in contributing her legal and financial expertise to Defenders and other conservation organizations. In 1986, Terry, then a corporate and securities partner at LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae, volunteered to serve as Defenders’ corporate counsel. Over the next 22 years she provided thousands of hours of pro bono legal work, playing a significant role in Defenders’ growth and effectiveness. Terry has also served on the boards of RARE and the Lower Hudson Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. In 1998, The Nature Conservancy presented her with its Oak Leaf Award.
Terry received her undergraduate degree from Smith and M.B.A. and J.D. degrees from NYU.
For her generosity in time and talent, her passion for parrots, and her dedication to conservation and to Defenders of Wildlife, we are pleased to award Terry Pelster the Spirit of Defenders Award for Citizen Advocacy.
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