Protecting the Planet

Working to conserve natural resources, combat climate change and promote outdoor recreation

Inspired by — and working to protect — the natural world

Kent J. Thiry got his first taste of the power of nature when running in the woods in northern Wisconsin — enveloped by endless miles of sugar maple and fir trees.

Today, he enjoys and is awed by the outdoors while hiking or biking in Colorado and across the western United States, and returns to northern Wisconsin each summer to relax, to rejuvenate, and to be inspired.

He has been a contributor to environmental causes his entire adult life and now he, and his wife Denise O’Leary, are dedicating significant energy to one of the most important issues facing our world — conservation — in hopes of leaving things better than they found them.

Member of the Global Board of The Nature Conservancy and significant donor to programs to enhance and preserve a planet threatened by climate change and biodiversity loss.

Supporter of the Highline Canal Conservancy, a nonprofit working with the public and governmental entities throughout the Denver-metro region to guide preservation and enhancement of the 71-mile-long canal.

Investor in the Trust for Public Lands’ Colorado Conservation Finance Program, which has secured nearly $2 billion to protect the outdoors through local voter initiatives since 2020.