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After Paul Vanderford received his undergraduate degree, he studied the human aspects of natural resource management in South Africa. It was just after the apartheid government ended and efforts to make natural resource ownership more equitable began.

Vanderford began his career in wood markets at the Rainforest Alliance and then moved to Portland to run a new regional office and serve about 160 businesses that bought and sold wood products.

Vanderford then met Chad Davis, Sustainable Northwest鈥檚 forest stewardship director, who wanted to help businesses address market demand for sustainable wood products. Together, they established the first FSC-Group certification program in North America. Sustainable Northwest hired Vanderford to oversee the program.

As wood markets program director, he works with partners and funders, and supports locally and tribally owned forests.

鈥淚 think my work allows people to stop being afraid and allows people to start understanding that they can have a positive footprint, that they can be intentional, that they can live their lives in a way that celebrates the human connection to landscapes,鈥� Vanderford said.