Meet our Staff
There are many hands that work to make The International Hummingbird Society a success. We each come with different backgrounds but share the same love of these special and amazing birds. Colibri is an international word for hummingbird. Since we are an international organization we find it fitting to call ourselves, "team colibri"!
Male Black-chinned Hummingbird at Hot Lips Salvia - Hilary Joy Morejon - Hummingbirds of Joy
Team Colibri
Alice Madar
Executive Director
September 1, 2023: I am deeply honored to be taking up the position of Executive Director. To me, this feels like a particularly auspicious moment in the history of the International Hummingbird Society (IHS): We are transitioning from management by the founders – Ross and Beth Kingsley Hawkins – to management by a sustainer who was not there at the beginning. It shows that this idea of a society dedicated to teaching about hummingbirds and working to preserve them is a worthy, strong cause – a cause that has a life of its own. A cause that all of you care about.
A little about me: before moving to Sedona, I had a career in writing, editing, and corporate communications in the San Francisco Bay Area. After I settled here with my family, I joined Sedona Charter School. As its director I found great joy in helping it grow into a vital, solid institution with a strong sense of community. I learned a lot about managing a non-profit. But the hummingbirds were always calling to me. I built a hummingbird garden in our yard, complete with two ponds, because I learned hummers love water features. I traveled to Ecuador and Peru and southeastern Arizona to see and photograph as many of them as I could. I have been to every Sedona Hummingbird Festival for the past eight years and have loved every one of them.
And now, I am looking forward to working with all of you to help protect and expand our knowledge of these tiny, otherworldly beings. The board, staff and I are filled with ideas for how to build on what Ross and Beth Kingsley Hawkins have already accomplished – to extend the Society’s reach and influence to do even more in pursuit of the dual mission of education and conservation. At the same time, in all our activities, I want to make sure to preserve the joy that everyone experiences at the Sedona Hummingbird Festival – and each time you see a hummingbird.
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Hilary Joy Morejon
Marketing & Media Coordinator
EMT - 2010
Dental Assistant - 2014
Associate in Arts Degree
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Hilary manages our website, social media, and marketing for the International Hummingbird Society, and helps plan and manage the Sedona Hummingbird Festival.
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She is a hummingbird enthusiast who has a strong passion for these phenomenal birds. She started out by handfeeding and reading everything she could about hummingbirds. After attending her first Sedona Hummingbird Festival in 2019 she was hooked. Since moving to the beautiful city of Sedona in the summer of 2021 with her husband, Whitney Morejon, she began working for the International Hummingbird Society in fall 2021.
After two years and two festivals later, she wanted to fulfill another one of her dreams... hummingbird banding. She was accepted to a hummingbird banding program at the Southwestern Research Station in Portal, AZ, in the Chiricahua Mountains. She has since passed the course and will become a sub-permitted bander.
When not at work, Hilary enjoys hummingbird photography, hiking, off-roading, traveling, and being with family (animals included).
You can see her photography on Instagram: hummingbirdsofjoy