National Wildlife Refuge Association
MANAGEMENT
CEO/Executive Director
Desirée Sorenson-Groves, dgroves@refugeassociation.org
CEO/Executive Director Experience
Desirée Sorenson-Groves re-joined the Refuge Association in October 2024 as the President and CEO. Her career has been focused on protecting and enhancing the National Wildlife Refuge System, first as a grassroots organizer for the National Audubon Society, then as the Vice President of Government Affairs for the Refuge Association. After 14 years at NWRA, Sorenson-Groves became the Director of the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign where she managed an Indigenous-led, multi prong effort to stop any development in the Arctic Refuge. She comes back to NWRA after leading Defenders of Wildlife’s public and private lands programs as their Vice President of Land & Habitat Conservation. She has a B.A. in Geography from George Washington University and resides in Fort Valley, VA with her husband and two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.
Staff Information
| Number of Full-Time Staff | 7 |
| Number of Part-Time Staff | 0 |
| Number of Volunteers | 0 |
| Number of Contract Staff | 0 |
Staff Demographics
Ethnicity
| Other | 0 |
| Caucasian | 5 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 0 |
| African American/Black | 0 |
| Asian American/Pacific Islander | 2 |
| Native American/American Indian | 0 |
Gender
| Male | 2 |
| Female | 5 |
| Not Specified | 0 |
CONTACT
National Wildlife Refuge Association
1701 K St. NW
Suite 550
Washington, District Of Columbia 20006