Tom Brzostowski is a philanthropist with a science background and over 10 years of experience working in international conservation. He worked five years for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and now serves as the Director of Development for The Nature Conservancy in New Zealand. Brzostowski cares deeply about the natural world and wants to inspire others to help balance saving the planet with caring for ourselves.
My Key Takeaways
My interview with Tom was a very real one about the outstanding beauty of this planet and also the potential devastation we could face if we don’t make radical changes. Tom speaks from the heart, with much proof, based on years of study and observation of our natural environment. Is the situation we all find ourselves in with regards changeable weather patterns and the extinction of over one million species of plants, insects and animals, a result of what we don’t seem to be prepared to do to change it. I’d like to believe this isn’t an innate mentality where so much of our problems lie!
Our planet is in a critical place and although we all have different views as to why this is, we have to accept that at least some of this is due to our selfishness and greed. For our cause to have lasting impact, we need to imbed a culture that has the potential to create the opposite. The teams we build and the projects we embark on.
Listening to Tom, what did become more apparent than ever, was how vital positive impact is. There is a desperate need for more change makers, visionaries with growth, love and compassion at their heart and I believe it’s easier now than it has ever been; we have knowledge at our fingertips, there is more money than there has ever been and there’s a queue of people waiting to join our train if we just ask.
Tom has worked with some great teams throughout his career and has strong beliefs as to what an impactful leader is – when to say yes and more importantly when to say no. If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to far go together. The value of gaining knowledge from whomever is local to your cause. Tom has left me in a state of reflection, which I know will add great value to my future steps.
Connect with Tom
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombrzostowski?lang=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasbrzostowski/
