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Tom Medema

Consultant

Tom Medema
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A career National Park Ranger and senior leader, and a noted adventure philanthropist, Tom Medema has dedicated his career and personal life to promoting global conservation and inspiring adventure travel and volunteerism to better our world. He is a Michigan native, husband, and father of two. He holds a B.A. from Calvin University and a Master’s Degree in Natural Resource Communication from Michigan State University.

Before beginning his consulting business Medema spent 35 years in increasingly significant leadership positions with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), retiring in 2024 as Associate Director – a senior executive position in Washington, D.C. – responsible for visitor experience in more than 430 National Park sites.

Prior NPS positions included Superintendent of Denali National Park & Preserve, Chief of Interpretation and Education at Yosemite National Park, and Park Ranger work in Mount Rainier and Rocky Mountain National Parks. Medema is the recipient of numerous professional honors including the:

  • Department of Interior Distinguished Service Award
  • National Park Service Sequoia Award
  • National Association for Interpretation President’s Award
  • Western National Parks Association Danson Award.

Medema co-founded the multi-national nonprofit Rally for Rangers project in 2014. Rally for Rangers has delivered more than 300 new motorcycles to park rangers in Mongolia, Nepal, Peru, Argentina, Namibia, Bhutan, and tribal rangers in the USA over the past decade. He co-produced the award-winning documentary film A Rally for Rangers which chronicles Medema and the team delivering motorcycles in remote regions of Patagonia, Mongolia, and Nepal.

Medema’s personal connection and inspiration to the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence traces back to a family road trip during the 1976 Bicentennial where, as a ten year old, he found boundless wondering and amazement in the historic fabric of the American Revolution. He has collected Bicentennial coins ever since.

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