Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, Sydney Hulebak first fell in love with charismatic wildlife when she studied abroad in Stellenbosch, South Africa as a junior in college. While there, she participated in a Learning for Sustainable Community Development Program in nearby Lynedoch. In between safaris and visits to elephant conservancies, she discovered a passion for community-led social businesses and sought a way to bring that interest to life.

Prior to WildArk, Sydney was a fellow at the Woodruff, Whitehead and Evans Foundations in Atlanta, Georgia, helping to award over $500 million to regional grantees. She was also the co-founder and creative director of a fashion social enterprise called Lion’s Thread, which worked to empower women artisans in Uganda through entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Today, Lion’s Thread helps seed women-led, small businesses in Iganga, Uganda. Sydney also interned for Ashoka, which fosters the development of changemakers for social good around the globe. Sydney graduated from Berry College magna cum laude with a B.A. Honors degree in Communications- Public Relations and graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) with an M.A. degree in International Economics and Latin American Studies.