In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.
—Baba D ioum
I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.
—Robin Wall Kimmerer
Experiencing the restorative power of nature by spending time outdoors provides a powerful antidote to the stresses of modern life. However, 74 percent of communities of color in the U.S. are in areas with limited access to nature. Those are also often the communities that will be most severely impacted by climate change.
Public access is a core part of our mission, and we have always stewarded our properties for public use, but we have more work to do to ensure that everyone can enjoy our special places. In recent years, we have made meaningful strides to increase the accessibility of our properties and the diversity of our Members and visitors. We will work even harder to ensure that everyone who visits a Trustees property knows that this is a place where they belong.
We will also expand training, volunteer, and employment opportunities for high school and college students, inspiring them to believe, as we do, that We Are All Trustees: connected to and stewards of the natural world. Our properties and expertise can serve as a powerful tool for cultivating the conservationists of the future. Immersive art installations, cultural programs, musical performances, outdoor recreation experiences, and job training opportunities will encourage
people to explore our properties and form positive connections and memories with the outdoors.
By expanding access and creating meaningful connections to the natural world, we will not only broaden who visits The Trustees, we will also inspire and cultivate a new generation of environmental stewards.
Ɂ Launch the We Are All Trustees campaign to welcome thousands of first-time visitors, increase annual visits to 2.25 million, and grow membership to 110,000 households
Ɂ Develop the Trustees Access Fund to provide scholarships and funding to increase access to our properties and programs
Ɂ Strengthen relationships with community partners to deepen connections with local, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and underresourced communities
Ɂ Tell accurate cultural and historical stories that educate visitors about our shared history and highlight under-represented voices
Ɂ Build an Outdoor Recreation strategy that connects people with the outdoors through safe, accessible, and fun outdoor activities
Elnora Thompson has volunteered as the Garden Coordinator for the Nightingale Community Garden in Dorchester for nearly 40 years. To her, an urban garden is more than a source of fresh fruit and vegetables. “This garden is the heart of our community—and a community in and of itself. It brings people together and sustains us,” she explains. Elnora is excited to share the Trustees mission with new visitors and volunteers and to share the food the garden produces with the local pantry to support those in need. “I work hard to keep this neighborhood a neighborhood,” she says. “I’m proud to grow the next generation of gardeners who will manage the Nightingale—and who will continue to feed our community in body and spirit.”
When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
—Aldo Leopold
Equip our staff, energize our operation
Making strategic investments in our operations is a key dimension of For Everyone, Forever—one that results in deeper impact and a better experience for our staff, Members, and visitors. Employees who are valued and fulfilled in their jobs translate that enthusiasm into putting our mission into action. Initiatives that foster a diverse and inclusive organization mirror efforts to make our properties more welcoming. Equipping staff with the latest tools and technologies will make it easier to manage our operations and connect with visitors. And improving the efficiency of our systems helps us direct resources toward what matters most: caring for the precious properties in our portfolio and making them fully accessible for all visitors.
By investing in our people, systems, and infrastructure, we will strengthen our organization and amplify our mission in every interaction, every program, and every acre we protect.
Ɂ Implement enhanced tools and systems that help us evaluate our performance, adopt bestin-class operating procedures, and monitor our fiscal health
Ɂ Invest in professional development programs that nurture future leaders, advance our core values, and reward talent and initiative
Ɂ Integrate diversity and inclusion best practices into hiring and operating strategies across the organization
I can’t stop thinking about what it means to build a sustainable, mutually supportive community, and I can’t stop thinking about who I want beside me as I undertake this project of connection.
—Camille T. Dungy
Peter Pinciaro, Regional Vice President for the North Shore, began his career with The Trustees as a summer volunteer at Crane Wildlife Refuge between college semesters in 1977. He continues to work closely with staff and volunteers—now as a manager and mentor. He says The Trustees must continue to evolve to attract and retain diverse employees, visitors, and Members. “If you come to the beach and you see someone who looks like you on the staff, you’re more likely to come back,” explains Peter. “You’ll also be more likely to sign up to volunteer there, or apply for a job.”
Alejandra Narvaez, Coastal Project Manager, has been managing salt marsh and barrier beach resilience projects across a number of properties
during her first two years with The Trustees. As co-chair of the Conservation in Color employee resource group, she is also helping to create a more welcoming environment for all. “Although I’m relatively new to the organization, I can tell that things are trending in the right direction,” she says. “I certainly felt supported and seen when I joined the organization. I hope that will only be strengthened for future team members.”
Peter adds, “I’ve been here 44 years, and I have to say that I’m a bit jealous of those who are new to The Trustees. The sense of camaraderie has never been better. I think the next five years are going to be the best in the organization’s history.”
For Katie Theoharides, President & CEO of The Trustees, and Tom French, chair of the Board of Directors, advancing the goals articulated in For Everyone, Forever is a collaborative effort. We asked them to share their thoughts on how our new strategic plan will move The Trustees forward.
TOM We’re here today at the Ward Reservation. We talk a lot about special places—this one is particularly special to me. I grew up a mile from here. Our family would hike here, go cross-country skiing, and have picnics up on the hilltop. I feel transported when I’m here.
I’m also inspired by the story behind this place. The Kimball family owned and stewarded this land for generations. They painstakingly assembled it parcel by parcel, and gifted all of it to The Trustees. It’s an amazing land conservation story that’s emblematic of what we do and how people support us.
KATIE I love that story. Being here today also makes me think about our new strategic plan, and how excited I am about the work we’ve done over the last year with our board, staff, and volunteers to accelerate our mission and impact going forward. It’s amazing to think that The Trustees has been protecting these beautiful, scenic, historic and cultural resources across the state for over 130 years. And as Massachusetts’ largest and the nation’s first conservation and preservation nonprofit, now is the perfect moment to lean into our core mission and do what we’ve always done really well—connecting people to landscapes and bringing them into the work of conserving special places for everyone, forever.
TOM I couldn’t agree more. Another thing I love about the plan is how we approached the strategic planning process. We went back to our mission and said, “In these times, what does our mission mean? What does it call us to do?”
We have this wonderful balance of looking back to our origin story, our roots, and our core mission— honoring and recommitting to our values, while at the same time bringing them to bear on the challenges and the needs of our time.
KATIE Our organization was founded in response to industrial sprawl, at a time when people were losing their connection to nature. We’ve reached another critical moment, as we continue to lose 13.5 acres of habitat in Massachusetts every day. The impacts of climate change are also becoming real—from coastal flooding and storm damage to forest fires occurring where we haven’t seen them in the past. And at the same time, we’re seeing people—especially young people—becoming more disconnected from nature.
TOM Those challenges were top of mind as we formulated the plan. It’s why we’re tripling down on our commitment to drive land conservation across the Commonwealth—not only to preserve viewscapes and watersheds and habitat corridors in perpetuity, but also to sequester carbon, which plays an essential role in fighting climate change.
It’s also critical that we foster those connections between people and nature that you mentioned. All of us come to this work for different reasons. For me, it’s about the borderline spiritual experience I have when I’m in a special place like this. That experience grounds me, fulfills me, gives me joy, and connects me with something deeply meaningful.
KATIE That connection is so important. That’s why it’s great to see people on our properties discovering nature the way you and I did as kids. For me, it started when I was growing up in Western Massachusetts surrounded by farms and forests. I spent all of my free time outside getting into some type of mischief—building dams in the streams and just feeling part of the natural world. My 10-year-old self would not believe the work I get to do here at The Trustees. It’s an honor to protect these special places for everyone, so that more people can connect with nature in the way we both have been so lucky to do.
…lovers of Nature should now rally to preserve for themselves and all the people as many as possible of the scenes of natural beauty which, by great good fortune, still exist near their doors.
—Charles Eliot
We’re
charting
a bold future for The Trustees—and for nature across Massachusetts.
PRESIDENT & CEO
Katie Theoharides
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Nathan Hutto
CHIEF CONSERVATION & CLIMATE OFFICER
Noah Matson
CHIEF OF STAFF & SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT & CEO
Gerben Scherpbier
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Janetta Stringfellow
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Brian Therrien
CHIEF MARKETING & DIVERSITY OFFICER
Janelle Woods-McNish
EDITORIAL
Katie Theoharides
Janelle Woods-McNish
Sarah Cassell
Gerben Scherpbier
WRITING
Libretto
DESIGN OverUnder
PHOTOGRAPHY AND BRANDING
Chris Costello
Meaghan Flaherty
Renée Gannon
Gina Janovitz
Wayne Wilkins
STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE
Thomas D. French, Chair
Andrew P. Borggard
Peter B. Coffin
Elizabeth de Montrichard
David R. Foster
Julia G. Krapf
Edward H. Ladd
Robert H. Mason
Cyrus Taraporevala
Phyllis R. Yale
STRATEGIC PLANNING & ANALYSIS
Facilitated by McKinsey & Company
Andy West
John Chartier
Sarah Blatt
Margaux Richman
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Thomas D. French, Chair
Cyrus Taraporevala, Vice-Chair
Phyllis R. Yale, Vice-Chair
David D. Croll, Secretary
William G. Constable, Assistant Secretary
Brian M. Kinney, Assistant Secretary
Priscilla J. Bender
Andrew P. Borggaard
Peter B. Coffin
Richard M. Coffman
Elizabeth de Montrichard
Philip J. Edmundson
Uzochi C. Erlingsson
Edward G. Garmey
Timothy G. Healy
Roland E. Hoch
Bradley C. Irwin
Elizabeth L. Johnson
Julia G. Krapf
John D. Laupheimer
Martin Lempres
Robert H. Mason
Andrea Miano
Sukanya L. Soderland
Ruth Kennedy Sudduth
Photography (5, 21); Suzy Allman, Courtesy of the MA Division of Ecological Restoration (6); Pete Marotta (7); The Trustees (9, 10, 14-17, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29); Jerry Monkman, EcoPhotography (11); Krista Photography (13); Lisa Abitbol (22-23); J Coutre (24); Nick Virzi (inside back cover). Photographers may retain copyrights.
The Trustees is Massachusetts’ largest—and the nation’s first—land conservation and preservation nonprofit. Today, through the support of Members, donors, and partners, The Trustees helps conserves more than 48,000 acres and welcomes the public to more than 120 inspiring locations across the state to experience landscapes where nature, wildlife, and people all thrive.