Board & Staff

My name is Susan Graham, and I joined the team as the new Chief Development Officer, and I am beyond grateful to be here. I've been in the non-profit industry for over ten years, fundraising for national and local organizations.

My career started at the Alzheimer's Association managing events in West TN. I then joined ALSAC/ St. Jude fundraising for their endurance team. While at St. Jude, I managed their Signature Event program which consisted of 12 national endurance events with a $3M portfolio. One of my favorite accomplishments at St. Jude was taking the program internationally. After St. Jude, I joined the Regional One Health Foundation fundraising for a local non-profit hospital. I managed corporate and foundation relations and used my networking skills to drive new business opportunities.

Ryan holds a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in city and Regional Planning from Clemson University. He is also a registered forester in Mississippi. This unique education allows him to assess the most important habitats for conservation. Ryan has grown his passion for protecting these special places over his tenure at Wolf River Conservancy. He particularly enjoys working alongside other passionate, mission-driven people and the challenge of each real estate transaction, which are often as unique as the landowners’ personalities.  

Ryan is a loving husband to his wife, Haley, and proud father to his daughter, Cypress, who challenges him daily and gives new meaning to his work. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and paddling with his family and their dog, Pepper

Shea is a native Memphian and a recent graduate from Christian Brothers University, where she completed her degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Banking.  She served as Director of Philanthropy for her sorority in 2019. Her experience as Director of Philanthropy helped her realize she wanted to pursue a career in the nonprofit field.

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Findley is a Civil / Environmental Engineer with an Undergraduate Degree in Engineering from Vanderbilt University. He has experience across a wide variety of projects, including greenways, parks, canoe trails, masterplans, wetland and stream restorations, habitat protection plans, brownfield redevelopment, and flood reduction efforts. Findley has previously worked with the Wolf River Conservancy in 2014 on the Boat Ramp Access study and recently helped the Conservancy with engineering design for the new Epping Way boat dock. His past projects include work on the Big River Trail and Park in West Memphis, the Five-Mile Creek Greenway in Birmingham, the Jefferson County (Alabama) Bike / Ped Masterplan, and development of a 350-acre recreational park in Oxford, Alabama. Findley assumed the role of Wolf River Greenway Coordinator January 1, 2020. His responsibilities will include oversight of design, permitting, construction, and coordination with our local partners, the City of Memphis Parks Division and Shelby County.

He is active in the community and currently serves Memphis Leadership Foundation Board and is a past Chair of the Exceptional Foundation of West Tennessee Board. In his free time, he enjoys being outside with his wife, three children and his dog.

In December of 2011, Jim answered an advertisement from the Conservancy for “free beer and pizza”. This event was the opening effort to expand their River Guide program. At that time, Jim was both a fair paddler and had been a member of the Conservancy since 2006. Jim was an active volunteer in the program for the next four years. During this time, he transitioned from paddling a kayak to an open canoe and discovered that he truly loved the slow rhythm of the waters of the Wolf River. Upon the retirement of Dale Sanders in 2015, Jim accepted his current position as our Director of Outreach.

Jim holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology from Memphis State University as well as a Master of Science from Christian Brothers University. His conservation roots are a result of his childhood among the trees, fields and streams around the east Memphis home where he was raised in a family of 5.

As the Director of Education for the Wolf River Conservancy since 2007, Cathy Justis provides a wide range of educational programming for K-12 students and other community members of all ages, including annual frog chorus walks, stream strolls, a summer lecture series, and educator workshops. In addition to classroom programs and field trips, she leads habitat restoration service projects to improve the Wolf River watershed, removing exotic invasive plants and planting native species. She is also involved in developing and managing the Conservancy's website, and editing its publications.

Cathy has a M.S. in aquatic ecology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and over 25 years of experience in biology and environmental education. A Memphis native, she has worked for Lichterman Nature Center, the National Park Service, and Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, among others, and served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer.

Matt is a native Memphian and graduate from Christian Brothers University with a degree in International Business and Management.