Meet the Team

Alan Prouty is a resource economist with extensive experience in  the planning and development of rural development projects in Indonesia,  Malaysia and Colombia. Alan’s professional experience includes  assignments with the United Nations Development Program, the Asian  Development Bank, USAID, the World Bank and the Peace Corps. Alan’s  special interests include: localizing the SDGs; climate action; poverty  reduction; rural livelihoods development; and quantitative analysis of  forestry programs. 

Dick Prouty is a senior leader and educational consultant with  deep expertise in governance, leadership skills training, and consulting  for organizational change. In his previous role as CEO of Project  Adventure, Inc (PA), Dick was responsible for leading PA to be an  international leader in adventure education. Dick served on the Board of  Reforest the Tropics (RTT) from 2016 -2022, and developed the vision of  bringing the research of RTT to scale through Future Forests. 

Andria is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in  sustainable investing, institutional asset management, and family office  leadership. Throughout her career, she has built deep expertise in  strategy, investment management, and investor relations through roles  spanning private equity, investment consulting, endowment and treasury  management. She also brings a nuanced understanding of sustainability  regulation and impact measurement, both in theory and in practice. As  CFO of FF, Andria will oversee the financial operations of the  Company’s international forestry special purpose vehicle (SPV), which  focuses on sustainable timberland investments, carbon credit  monetization, and long-term land stewardship. In this capacity, she will  lead financial planning, risk management, capital structure  optimization, financial reporting, and investor relations—playing a  critical role in driving the platform’s growth and impact ambitions.

Maria has an MA in Media & Communications, and has spent over 15 years in corporate communications roles. Maria currently runs her own communications agency and supports small  to medium-sized businesses on strategic sustainability communications  and video production. Maria believes that effective communication is  about creating connections and driving positive change. As a creative  storyteller, Maria enjoys finding innovative ways to engage audiences  through various channels and platforms. 

Ila Prouty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at  Appalachian State University, where she teaches socially engaged art and  leads the Semester at Penland  program. Ila’s skills in creating and  building partnerships and her extensive curriculum development skills  will be useful as we create a training center for hosting and building  relationships worldwide with interested parties in the Future Forests model. 

Joseph Mueller is a retired commercial mortgage banker, having been a founder and Managing Partner of the Rockport Mortgage Corporation—one of the largest national providers of financing for multi-family properties and health care facilities. Early in his career, he was employed as an Economist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He also was the founder of Business Decision Systems, a software company that provided analytical support for the commercial lending platforms of major banks and corporations.

Mueller joined the Board of Woodwell Climate in 2016 and served as Chair of the Board from 2020 to 2022; he is currently a member of the Development Committee. He has previously served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, including those whose missions focused on schools, affordable housing, women's homeless shelters, and the performing arts. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Rockport Music for four years.

Mueller has a B.S. in Economics, a M.S in Economics, and a MBA in Finance.

James is a seasoned technology and product leader with extensive experience building and guiding high-performing teams. During his tenure at Microsoft, he rapidly advanced from program manager to leading medium-sized product teams, recognized for uniting diverse groups to deliver innovative product features. James served on Microsoft’s company-wide Program Management Leadership Team, helping shape talent development and organizational health across the discipline. He has successfully pitched new product plans to senior leadership, delivered presentations to Fortune 1000 clients, and coached researchers in communicating disruptive technologies to Microsoft’s CEO and Senior Leadership Team. At Future Forests, James brings exceptional strategic thinking, communication skills, and leadership expertise to help drive innovation and organizational growth. 

Emma is a recent Wellesley College graduate with a BA in Economics and a strong background in applied research. She has worked as a research assistant at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, studying COVID's impact on K-12 educational outcomes, and spent the past two years working for Professor David Weil at Brandeis University researching labor economics issues ranging from rideshare company-driver relationships to state pay transparency legislation. With skills in statistical analysis and a belief that market mechanisms can drive equitable outcomes, Emma is excited to apply economic tools to environmental challenges through her work in carbon markets at Future Forests LLC.

Alan S. Willsky is the Edwin Sibley Webster Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former Director of MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems. A distinguished academic and entrepreneur, he has authored more than 200 journal articles and co-written the widely adopted textbook Signals and Systems. His pioneering research in stochastic systems, data fusion, and large-scale data analytics has influenced applications ranging from target tracking and computer vision to environmental and energy systems. 

A member of the National Academy of Engineering and recipient of numerous professional honors, Alan brings decades of leadership in advanced analytics, complex systems, and technology innovation to his role on the Board of Directors of Future Forests LLC, where he supports the company’s mission with deep scientific expertise and strategic insight.