Our Team
Tim Kelly
Strategic Advisor
Tim Kelly, Executive Director of Earth HQ (a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors), provides strategic oversight, management, and reporting support.
Tim Kelly, former President of the National Geographic Society, is Executive Director of Earth HQ — an independent nonprofit building the cultural, cognitive, and narrative infrastructure that makes all climate and planetary solutions more effective. Earth HQ works in strategic partnership with the Global Commons Alliance and a growing ecosystem of science, media, and philanthropy organizations.
His work spans the full media landscape: environmental journalism that translates science into accessible information; entertainment and storytelling that humanizes nature and planetary health for mass audiences; creator and influencer platforms that build trusted communities; and interactive educational tools that develop systems literacy and agency.
Tim serves on the boards of the IUCN-US Fund, Great Plains Conservation Trust, and Mongabay. Before Earth HQ, Tim spent three decades at National Geographic — as President of the Society, CEO of Nat Geo Ventures, and President of National Geographic Television & Film. He built the organization from a primarily print institution into one of the world’s largest multimedia brands, launched the National Geographic Channel, and produced programming that earned over 138 Emmy Awards and an Academy Award for March of the Penguins.