As chief financial and operating officer at the National Geographic Society, Darien Wright is a strategic partner to the CEO, senior leadership team and board to advance the Society’s mission. He leads the organization’s financial and operational functions, including financial planning and analysis, accounting, treasury and risk management. Darien also oversees the Society leaders responsible for its endowment and investment portfolio, which help fund the organization’s critical work, as well as the technology solutions and Base Camp experiences that further the Society’s mission. Additionally, Darien serves as a key liaison to financial leadership at The Walt Disney Company, in support of the joint venture between the Society and Disney. He sits on the board of National Geographic Partners.

Before joining the National Geographic Society, Darien drove the strategic growth of a Brookfield Asset Management-owned portfolio company from its inception to a $1.5 billion successful exit. As chief operating officer of the 100+ hotel platform, he had day-to-day oversight of real estate development, asset management, acquisitions, dispositions, accounting, legal and human resources.

Previously, Darien was an executive with Marriott International for nearly 12 years in leadership positions across financial planning and analysis, corporate finance and development asset management. During his tenure, he partnered with diverse teams to facilitate new construction hotel projects, deliver valuations to structure transactions, influence capital allocation decisions, and direct company-wide planning processes. 

Before joining Marriott, Darien built an operations finance team at Sprint Nextel Corporation which delivered business models to evaluate growth initiatives and measured the effectiveness of marketing spend and sponsorships. He began his career providing strategy consulting, business integration, M&A due diligence and audit services to leading consumer packaged goods companies with Accenture and Coopers & Lybrand.

Originally from New York, Darien currently serves as a board director for Destination DC and the mental health organization NAMI. He has also held trustee positions for The Woods Academy and McLean School. Darien holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Binghamton University, an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and is also a certified public accountant.