Rachel Strader Chen
she/her Executive Director
Rachel Strader Chen joined the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation as its first employee and executive director in fall 2020. Her career has spanned conservation, art and philanthropy.
In Rachel’s previous work, she helped design and launch the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation’s Marine Conservation Initiative, working to improve fisheries and ocean management in New England and the West Coast. As an independent consultant, she supported nonprofits to help create strategies for habitat protection and ocean plastics. Rachel recently wrapped up a six-plus year term on the board of Save the Waves Coalition, whose mission is to protect surf ecosystems across the globe.
Rachel is also an artist and science illustrator, creating fine art paintings that celebrate the beauty of landscapes, as well as graphics that explain important concepts in nature. Her favorite recent project was illustrating a poster of the Marianas Trench National Marine Sanctuary for NOAA Fisheries. She uses art-based skills to help inspire understanding, appreciation and protection of important natural places and organisms.
She has a bachelor of science degree in Biology from Union College, a masters of Environmental Management from Duke University and a certificate in natural science illustration from California State University Monterey Bay. She is a graduate of the THNK Creative Leadership Program. She enjoys surfing as much as birdwatching from her surfboard.
