Elliot is the founder and CEO of Human Nature Projects, an international environmental charity supporting volunteers across 104 countries. He is a TED speaker, author, podcast host and filmmaker with a goal of reframing our human relationship with nature. So he’s saving people and planet at the tender age of 17.

To date, Elliot has been blessed with an abundance of life and near-death experiences: from giving flying lessons to owls and playing chicken with vultures to being stalked by a leopard in Botswana. But his learning simply is that we must all strive to be better animals. ‘Human Nature’ is his philosophy for how we get there.

"I'd describe myself as a skilled communicator, senior management executive and policy strategist with experience across two dozen charitable ventures. At age 17, my perspective is uniquely idealistic and I bring my values into everything I do. I'm a free spirit, a thought leader and storyteller aiming to reconnect the family tree of life."

"Ultimately, my path has been shaped by the animals around me. Age 10, I was stalked by a leopard in Botswana. The incident was reported, leading to the relocation or more likely shooting of the offending creature. The mixture of relief and guilt I felt from the incident continues to drive me forward. Likewise, I had a pet stick insect Ochre for a period of 18 months. I'd previously raised assassin bugs, fig tree leaf beetles and other critters, but Ochre connected with me more deeply. She taught me how thin the barriers between humans and other animals are. So now I've set about dismantling them piece by piece. That's my mission.