"So, we had 87 women come in for what we call pre-selection, the interviews... And I can say that after all the shit that I've been through in my life, that was some of the hardest two days of my life, listening to those stories. And, it was hard in a way because they were genuinely tough stories, but it was also hard in a way to know that even though I hadn't done anything directly to these women, I was part of a culture that had kept women just like this oppressed, the boys club, the macho club, all that sort of thing. And just part of, I suppose, this macho culture." - Damien Mander

Damien was on the show in December and the sound was horrendous. He was in the bush in Zimbabwe and I was in NYC and our connection was bad. We redid the interview last week, in person, in NYC - and it's sounds like a dream…

He is a former Australian Royal Navy clearance diver and a special operations military sniper who became an anti-poaching crusader and an environmental and animal welfare activist.

In 2009, while travelling through Africa, he was inspired by the work of rangers and the plight of wildlife. He liquidated his life savings and established the International Anti-Poaching Foundation.

Over the past decade the IAPF has scaled to train and support rangers which now help protect over 20 million acres of African wilderness. 

In 2017 Damien founded 'Akashinga - Nature Protected by Women,' an IAPF program that has already grown to over 240 employees with 7 nature reserves in the portfolio. They are the only group of nature reserves in the world to be protected by women. And, these women are changing the game in terms of what it means to fight poaching.

Damien was featured in the James Cameron documentary The Game Changers and has now released another documentary with James Cameron and National Geographic about his work with the women of Akashinga – "The Brave One's."

He is a resident on the National Geographic Speakers Bureau, has spoken at the United Nations, featured in June 2019's National Geographic Magazine, and has been featured three times on 60 Minutes. And, if you haven't seen it, watch his TEDx Talk at the Sidney Oprah House, it's just awesome.

 

It was an honor to spend time with Damien. He is a warrior, a hero and a man who understands what it means to never stop evolving.