Desirée Sorenson-Groves

President & CEO
dgroves@refugeassociation.org

Desirée Sorenson-Groves re-joined the Refuge Association in October 2024 as the President and CEO. Her career has been focused on protecting and enhancing the National Wildlife Refuge System, first as a grassroots organizer for the National Audubon Society, then as the Vice President of Government Affairs for the Refuge Association. After 14 years at NWRA, Sorenson-Groves became the Director of the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign where she managed an Indigenous-led, multi prong effort to stop any development in the Arctic Refuge. She comes back to NWRA after leading Defenders of Wildlife’s public and private lands programs as their Vice President of Land & Habitat Conservation. 

She has a B.A. in Geography from George Washington University and resides in Fort Valley, VA with her husband and two Chesapeake Bay Retrievers.