July 13, 2020
William Kostka was born and raised on the island of Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). In 1998, he helped founded and became the first Board Chairman and Executive Director of the Conservation Society of Pohnpei, the leading local conservation NGO in the nation. In 2002, Mr. Kostka also co-founded and currently serves as Executive Director of the Micronesia Conservation Trust, a charitable and irrevocable corporation organized to support biodiversity conservation and related sustainable development for the people of Micronesia by providing long term sustained funding and capacity building support. He sits on several notable boards/councils including the Pacific Islands Forum’s Specialists Subcommittee on Regionalism, the Counsel on the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System, the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative, the Pacific Advisory Panel of the Global Green-grants Fund and several others. In 2006, Kostka became a Pew Marine Fellow and used his fellowship grant to help launch and further the implementation of the Micronesia Challenge Initiative, a common commitment by the countries and territories of Micronesia to a comprehensive system of resilient protected areas networks. This commitment will see at least 30% of the nearshore marine and 20% of the forest resources across Micronesia under effective conservation by 2020. Recently, Mr. Kostka has helped to launch the Bill Raynor Micronesia Challenge Scholarship Program.