For over 40 years, Johanna Wald served Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as senior staff attorney. Over time, she became one of the nation’s leading advocates for the protection and improved management of federal public lands.

“When I started, I knew virtually nothing about this country’s public lands,” Johanna says. “As the years added up, I visited them, got a sense of how it was to experience them, understand the threats they were facing, and how I could help protect them.”

Though she retired in 2014, Johanna deeply values NRDC’s commitment to safeguarding the earth through science-backed research, passionate advocacy, and the collective power of people. She and her husband have expressed this commitment with a gift to NRDC in their estate plan—a gift that will ensure the fight for a healthy planet can last as long as is necessary.

The couple specifically chose to make their gift unrestricted, giving NRDC the freedom to put the funds toward their most pressing issues. When asked why this was important, the answer was simple.

“NRDC was an institution I knew well,” Johanna explains. “Its leaders, the people, how hard they work, a sense of their growth. I felt confident the gift would be used wisely…based on my long experience with NRDC, this is an organization that you can trust to do everything that can possibly be done for the environment and our planet. How could I not make this gift?”

Join Johanna in the Fight for Our Planet

If you stand as a partner in NRDC’s mission to create a healthier planet for all, consider joining Johanna by including a gift to NRDC in your will or other estate plan. Contact Michelle Mulia-Howell at 212.727.4421 or giftplanning@nrdc.org to learn more.