The Legacy of Female Leadership Continues
Sara Husby Takes the Helm as ABF’s New Executive Director
Desert Update
By Briana Puzzo, Education Manager
No. 88 Fall 2017
Photo: Jim Roller
In our fifty-year history, Anza-Borrego
Foundation has accumulated an impressive roster of female leaders who have shaped the direction of our organization. Since ABF’s humble beginning with Josephine Read, ABF’s first president in 1967, we have had a robust group of women help lay the foundation for the successful nonprofit partner that we are today.
That legacy of strong female leadership continues now in 2017 with the selection of new Executive Director Sara Husby. Sara comes to ABF from the Sacramento area where she served as executive director of the conservation nonprofit Tuleyome since 2010. She was a principal player in the campaign to permanently protect the Berryessa Snow Mountain area, a 100-mile stretch of mountains that include some of the most scenic and biologically diverse landscapes in northern California. During the seven-year campaign, Sara worked closely with a coalition of local, state, and national stakeholders, including groups in opposition to the proposal. These actions culminated in the 2015 declaration by President Obama of Berryessa Snow Mountain as a National Monument.
It takes many skills to successfully run our small but complex 50-year-old nonprofit. Determination, passion, focus and skillful relationship building are all necessary—and are exemplified in the pioneers who guided ABF in its early years.
Josephine Read
Harriet Allen
Determination: Two of ABF’s founders, Josephine Read and Harriet Allen, helped pioneer the idea of “making the Park whole.” Josephine—or Mrs. Henry T. Read, as she’s referred to on an old ABF brochure, a sure sign of the times—served as ABF’s first president for 16 years. She was a determined, rugged little lady who drove a large 4WD vehicle in which she could hardly see over the steering wheel. An outspoken conservationist, Harriet Allen was on our Board of Trustees from 1967-1986 and served as president for five of those years. Allen was one of the leading activists who spent eight years tirelessly working for the 1994 passage of President the landmark California Desert Protection Act. Obama congratulates Harriet’s life was dedicated to protecting natural lands, especially the desert, and speaking out Sara Husby against threats to its native landscapes. in the Oval Office.
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