Leadership
Amanda Nelson, Executive Director
Amanda Nelson is a seasoned nonprofit executive with over three decades of experience in organizational leadership and development. Her career is marked by successful tenures as Executive Director at various nonprofit organisations throughout the U.S.
Having grown up in a wildlife stewardship and preservation-minded family, Amanda feels a special alignment with the world-wide conservation and youth sporting work of the Mzuri Wildlife Foundation.
As a certified leadership coach from The Hudson Institute, a Bridges Out of Poverty certified trainer, and graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Amanda brings a unique combination of professional development expertise and social awareness to her work. Her leadership philosophy emphasizes building collective impact through strategic thinking, consensus building, and organizational development. She is particularly noted for her ability to meet challenges with grace and humour while inspiring others to embrace and work toward ambitious visions.
Board of Directors
Cyndi Flannigan, President
Cynthia “Cyndi” Flannigan is the Executive Director of the Youth Shooting Sports Alliance. Over the past 40 plus years, Cyndi has held many positions within the shooting sports industry. Her love of the sport focuses her attention and commitment to its future. Cyndi has been dedicated to and involved in the preservation and protection of our natural resources for most of her life. She views Mzuri Wildlife Foundation as a conduit for her life-long conservation efforts. When discussing Mzuri, she states that she is “proud to be associated with such a dedicated group of professionals.”
Ken Wood – Vice President
Ken grew up in the Douglas County area of Southern Oregon. The small town of Dillard has been home for most of his life. Ken became involved with the Douglas County Friends of NRA over 20 years ago and has been an active member ever since. At the same time, he began hunting more outside of the United States. Ken has a passion for firearms and for involving youth in shooting sports education and hunting. After seeing what the Mzuri Wildlife Foundation does for conservation and youth programs, he knew it would be a great organization to be involved with.
Peter B. Codding – Second Vice President
Peter Codding grew up in Sonoma County, California. He began hunting and fishing as a young man mentored by his father and uncles, a passion he still pursues at his new home in Idaho. As a boy, Peter traveled to Africa with his family. This experience expanded his understanding of the hunter’s role in wildlife conservation and management.
His father, James Codding, was a founding member and the first president of the Mzuri Wildlife Foundation. Peter grew up attending Mzuri fundraising events and meeting leaders in the wildlife conservation effort. He carries that legacy with him as a current board member.
Sharon McMicking – Secretary
Born in Southern California, Sharon’s love of the outdoor sports grew from fishing and snorkeling in waters off Catalina Island. She has traveled to many parts of the world to fish, hunt, and enjoy the camaraderie that comes from these adventures.
Sharon joined the board of Mzuri Wildlife Foundation to help protect and care for the wildlife, land, and water that have enriched her life and to help preserve these experiences so that others will cultivate a love of the outdoor world and feel compelled, as she does, to protect it.
M. Kevin Destruel
M. Kevin Destruel is co-owner of Mead Clark Lumber Company, a third-generation family-owned business in Sonoma County, where he has worked since graduating from UC Berkeley. His dedication to wildlife conservation results from his love of the outdoors and his passion for hunting. “I just wanted to see more put back in than was ever taken out,” he explains. Kevin’s godfather, Jim Codding, was the first president of Mzuri Wildlife Foundation. Kevin has continued this legacy, serving multiple terms as the Foundation’s board president. Kevin was recently selected as the 2020 Steven E. Nelson Sportsman of the Year, an award which recognizes a lifetime of achievement in international hunting and conservation. He and his wife, Karen, share a home in Texas.
George Sammut
George Sammut is a businessman and restaurateur involved with Black Bear Diner restaurants as a shareholder and franchise/operator in California and Nevada. He is a Life Member in several wildlife conservation and outdoors activity organizations, with a deep passion for outdoor sports/activities and wildlife conservation all over the world. He believes that everyone should do their part to help protect our wildlife and the habitat they need to survive. With his wife Sandra, George has traveled multiple times to such areas as the Amazon of Brazil, plains of Africa, mountains of Spain, open fields of Canada, and many areas here in the USA, and believes strongly that helping indigenous people co-exist with the wildlife around them is yet another very important aspect of conservation and the future of many wildlife species.
“The education of wildlife species and the habitat they exist in is very complex and extremely misunderstood by many who have not actually traveled to those areas these species exist in.”
George believes that organizations such as MZURI Wildlife Foundation are a great tool in furthering that education and supporting the many efforts to accomplish goals that help both wildlife and the indigenous people with which they co-exist. He enjoys seeing the many youth camps/projects being supported by MZURI Wildlife Foundation both here in the United States and abroad, that teach future generations the importance of wildlife conservation worldwide. He sees MZURI as a “Boots on the Ground” effort to actually help fund and support projects that can be seen built out and ultimately working, and is proud to be a small part of that effort.
Dan Sozzi
bio coming soon
