Hillary Fenrich ’14 has dedicated her life to safeguarding nature as an international conservationist. At McDonald’s Corporation, she leads the company’s global nature and water strategy across borders and languages. To this day, she continues to tap into the network of experts at Allegheny College for the latest advancements in the field.
It’s very rare to hear of students keeping in touch with their undergraduate professors or amazing professionals like Kelly Boulton ’02 a decade later – but that’s not uncommon at Allegheny,” notes Fenrich. “Building strong connections with my professors led me to creative ways of thinking, fresh takes on cutting-edge research, international job positions, strong academic references, and years of sending local Latin American coffee back and forth to one another.
As a double major in environmental studies and Spanish, Fenrich says participating in an experiential learning seminar in Nicaragua changed the course of her life. During the experience, the two weeks compelled her to declare a Spanish major and influenced her Senior Comprehensive Project, which in part focused on sustainability and social changes she saw while in Nicaragua. The lasting impact was learning about international conversation opportunities she never imagined at the nexus of environmental and social problems.
After graduating from Allegheny College, Fenrich journeyed to Costa Rica to develop sustainability initiatives and teach science and English at a private school. During this period, she engaged in a short research assistantship with Emeritus Professor of Biology and Environmental Science and Founder & Director of Creek Connections, Dr. Jim Palmer, in support of Ríos Saludables, a Costa Rican initiative modeled after Creek Connections.
The beginning of my career and, frankly, my life would look very different without Professor Palmer. His impact on me started when I was the only volunteer in his class to be a lab assistant (with zero experience). He believed in me, encouraged and inspired me, and challenged me. I am incredibly grateful for the friendship, support, and thought partnership over the years. Gracias no es suficiente, mae,” reflects Fenrich.
Returning to the United States, Fenrich rescued millions of honeybees in California and worked on an organic farm in Alaska, where records for the world’s largest vegetables still hold because of the midnight sun.
Fenrich would travel back to Latin America to Perú to assist the Andes-Amazon School for Field Studies program. Later, she managed a research field station in the Peruvian Amazon at the Manu Learning Center in a remote area, where she educated hundreds of visitors through biodiversity and watershed health assessments. She continued her conservation work further in Latin America in the Brazilian Amazon as well as at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
Her impact strategy shifted when beginning to tackle big questions around public-private policy and theories of change at the National Wildlife Federation. Now at McDonald’s, Fenrich is a thought leader around setting global strategy on forests, natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and water in support of maximum positive impact for nature, people and resiliency.
“It’s an exercise in terms of prioritization, influencing towards a shared vision, and drawing on the latest conversation thinking to extract the nuggets that are most relevant to McDonald’s and most likely to help make the business case for nature— and then baking that into how we operate,” notes Fenrich.
Fenrich says that she wouldn’t be where she is today if she hadn’t attended Allegheny College.
“I was hosted overnight by Megan King ’15, who was so passionate about the environment, and was immediately sold that night on Allegheny. It was clear that this was a community that I could feel a sense of belonging,” says Fenrich. “I’m incredibly grateful to the Allegheny College community for helping create the person I am— and to my Mom and Dad (Jennifer Plewak ’85 and Richard Fenrich ’85), who shared stories about Allegheny adventures when I was growing up and showed me the way to get here.”
