Mario Klip was born and raised in Europe, and grew up in a rural town in the center of the Netherlands. Raised in an environmentally aware family, he has been passionate about animals and nature from a very early age. Mario worked on a number of farms in the vicinity as a livestock handler in his teens. During this time he learned about the differences between farming and environmental perspectives, and how important it is to bring disparate constituencies together to address multi faceted concerns.

Mario moved to Amsterdam for his education, and has a B.A. in International Management, and a M.A. in Management Accounting and Marketing from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Over the years Mario has traveled extensively around the world both professionally and personally, visiting remote wilderness places whenever possible.

Prior to graduating, Mario was recruited by Sun Microsystems in the Netherlands. After two years he chose an expatriate assignment with Sun, and began working in the United States in 2000. Throughout his career, Mario has performed a diverse number of roles in finance, operational management, and marketing and has managed large and diverse teams around the world. While at Sun he was responsible for setting up pricing systems, new product announcements and design of marketing and sales programs. In 2005 he was promoted to Director – Marketing Field Enablement, and became one of the youngest directors at Sun at that time. After 10 years, Mario left Sun in 2007 in order to focus on other business opportunities and to follow his passion: “working in and with nature”. He is currently finishing a M.S. degree in Wildlife Biology, and participating in building out Felidae Conservation Fund. You can reach him by email at mklip@felidaefund.org