Seminar Faculty Bios

David Allen is the principal for Development for Conservation LLC, a consulting business specializing in organizational development for nonprofit conservation organizations. David’s background includes 25 years working in annual fundraising, major donor development, communications, and marketing. He has worked for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) chapters around the country and for the Sand County Foundation in Wisconsin, devoting his professional career to helping conservation organizations and land trusts pursue excellence in all aspects of their conservation endeavors. David is a skilled teacher and presenter, particularly in major gift fundraising, and served TNC as an internal consultant and national trainer within the context of his Wisconsin assignment. David has conducted numerous workshops for Land Trust Alliance and other land trust service organizations. He is currently consulting with land trusts in seven states.

Ole Amundsen III is the strategic conservation program manager at The Conservation Fund. A seasoned professional, with nonprofit and government experience, Ole focuses on assisting clients achieve their full potential by helping organizations complete strategic conservation plans, green infrastructure assessments and approach plan implementation holistically. Ole co-teaches courses on green infrastructure as part of the Conservation Leadership Network. He holds a bachelors in government from Colby College and a masters in city planning from MIT.

Tom Bailey has been executive director of Michigan’s Little Traverse Conservancy since 1984 and has helped the organization to establish itself as a community institution. He is a former National Park Ranger, state bureaucrat and citizen activist.

Steve Boyle is principal and senior scientist at BIO-Logic, Inc., a natural resources consulting firm in Montrose, CO. Steve and his staff have prepared about 300 Baseline Documentation Reports for conservation easements in Colorado and adjacent states. Steve holds a masters in wildlife biology and has 30 years of experience in wildlife research, conservation biology, natural resources management, and 20 years of experience as a land trust board member and baseline documentation specialist. Steve is a contributing author to Mineral Tights on Conserved Lands: A Handbook for Conservation Professionals (2008) published by the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts. He was formerly a wildlife manager with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, research associate of the Department of Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University, and held research positions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies.

Sarah Brooks is associate director at Methow Conservancy, overseeing all of the organization’s fundraising activities and has served as the campaign director for their recent Imagine the Methow Capital Campaign.  She joined the conservancy in 2004, bringing with her experience in public relations, fundraising, and publication production for nonprofit organizations. Sarah has a masters in public administration from the University of Washington and has previously worked in development for a national nonprofit health-education organization.

Renee Bouplon is the associate director of the Agricultural Stewardship Association where she oversees the conservation easement and stewardship programs. She co-authored the Land Trust Alliance's curriculum book Conservation Easement Stewardship. Renee formerly served as director of conservation easement programs for the Columbia Land Conservancy.

Jane Calvin has been the executive director of the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust since 1995 and is active in urban land protection issues, including leading the Massachusetts Urban Land Protection Council. Jane holds a masters in environmental management from Yale University and has spoken several times at national, regional, and local conferences.

Maria Elena Campisteguy is a principal for the Metropolitan Group and brings nearly 30 years of management and professional experience in strategic communication, resource development and organizational development and multicultural communication. She has designed and implemented hundreds of outreach and public-will-building campaigns, programs and diversity trainings to increase grassroots and constituent participation and engagement, and change attitudes and behaviors of traditionally hard-to-reach communities. Passionate about the importance of increasing the relevancy of environmental organizations to more people, Maria Elena was the lead strategist on the re-branding work for the Land Trust Alliance and the branding and communication work for the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. She facilitated the 10-year strategic plan for the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, and has been working with Colorado Conservation Trust and local land trusts on a model community engagement project. She is principal author of “Increasing Relevance, Relationships and Results,” on principles and practices for effective multicultural communication. She is currently on the board of directors of the Land Trust Alliance and chairs their communication and community conservation committees.

Dana Chabot provides accounting and financial management services to nonprofit organizations as a sole proprietor. He has 12 years of experience performing financial statement and compliance audits for nonprofit, manufacturing, and retail organizations. Dana also has 10 years of experience teaching at the college level and enjoys working with financial professionals to improve technical proficiency and understanding of financial concepts. Dana has developed and presented numerous professional seminars and workshops on financial accountability; financial policies, procedures and reporting.

Story Clark is a consultant and author specializing in conservation finance. Her clients include land trusts, municipalities, foundations and individuals. She is a lecturer, sponsor and organizer of conservation finance “boot camps,” which offer intensive training to practitioners and graduate students in conservation finance techniques and strategies at Yale and Stanford Universities. She also teaches at the University of Utah’s Environmental Humanities graduate program. Currently, Story is writing the second volume of “A Field Guide to Conservation Finance” (Island Press 2007), developing a conservation investment fund among other projects. Her clients have included the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Conservation Trust for North Carolina. She previously worked for the Jackson Hole Land Trust, the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, and as a planner for Teton County, Wyoming. She is a recipient of the National Park Foundation’s Citizen Leadership medal for continued leadership in the preservation and protection of America’s scenic and historic heritage. Her current board/advisory board service include: Conservation International, American Conservation Association, Wyoming Stock Growers Agricultural Land Trust, the Jackson Hole Energy Sustainability Project – Wolfensohn Challenge Steering Committee, and the Ruckelshaus Institute at the University of Wyoming.

Laurel Florio is an attorney and consultant primarily working with land transactions and conservation easements. She has been participating as a member of the Alliance’s faculty for many years, conducts seminars and training sessions for the Alliance and other entities, as well as acts as a consultant to the Alliance, land trusts, landowners, governmental and other nonprofit organizations around the country.

Lyn Freundlich is the director of administration and human resources for Third Sector New England (TSNE). In this capacity she oversees the operational and personnel aspects of the organization, ensuring that internal customers receive the support and services they need in order to meet their mission-driven goals. In addition, she provides employee relations and other human resources-oriented consultation to TSNE clients. She has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, primarily in volunteer and human resources. Lyn has worked in large, international organizations and tiny, member driven, local ones. She worked for nearly nine years with the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. She also served as the executive director for Countdown to Kindergarten, a Boston-based community collaborative. Lyn has a bachelors from Oberlin College and a masters in organization and management from Antioch University of New England. 

Lee Hackeling has been the assistant director of LandPaths since 1999, focusing her work on project development, grant writing and strategic planning. Her passion is the interface of people with nature, and she is instrumental in LandPaths’ work in the more urban areas of the County. Previously, she worked as a joint employee of the Appalachian Mountain Club and the National Park Service's Rivers & Trails Conservation Assistance Program as lead Community Conservation Planner for the NY-NJ metropolitan area. Prior to this, she worked for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection doing community outreach and watershed planning, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Joanne Horgan is Third Sector New England’s senior human resources manager for the Fiscal Sponsorship program. Joanne has 20 years of experience in a wide range of human resources functions, including employee relations, training, performance management, policies and procedures development, and legal compliance. She currently supports 15 nonprofits, each with varied missions, staffing and programs. Joanne also co-facilitates supervisor and human resources trainings and workshops.

Mary Hughes is the development officer for Mesa Land Trust in Grand Junction, Colorado. She holds a masters in applied sociology, with additional studies in urban forestry and open space projects. Prior to a career in fundraising, she was owner of a family-operated dairy farm in Louisiana. Mary guided the planning and implementation of a comprehensive marketing plan at Mesa Land Trust in 2009.

William Hutton is one of the nation's leading authorities on the tax and financial aspects of land conservation transactions. Bill provides tax advice to nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals. He is also a professor of law emeritus at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Jessica Jay is the founding partner of Conservation Law, P.C., a law firm devoted to ensuring the permanence of land conservation through sound land conservation transactions and the defense and enforcement of perpetual conservation easements. Jessica represents and partners with land trusts, government entities, and landowners to conserve working landscapes and environmentally significant properties in the Rocky Mountain West. She actively engages conservation professionals, land trusts, and landowners in conservation workshops and discussions, and guides the next generation of land conservationists through her Land Conservation Law courses at the Vermont Law School and the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. Jessica collaborates with the land trust community to develop and implement legal defense and enforcement mechanisms for easement holders, to design and protect conservation easement incentives, and to create enforceable perpetual conservation easements that anticipate changing conditions, climate, and public interests.

Shawn Johnson is an associate at the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy at the University of Montana, where he is engaged in the Center’s efforts to help citizens and leaders shape public policy to sustain communities and landscapes in regional, trans-boundary contexts. In this regard, Shawn has conducted interviews with elected officials and key stakeholders, prepared situation assessments, organized conferences and workshops on the topic of regional collaboration, and written several case studies of successful trans-boundary efforts. A key focus of his research in this arena has been the use of decision-support technology to assist stakeholders in planning processes. In his spare time, Shawn is pursuing a doctorate in environmental policy at the School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan. He is a graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he focused on science, technology, and environmental policy. From 2000-2003, Shawn served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Max Baucus on education, workforce, and economic development issues.

Peg Kohring is The Conservation Fund's Midwest regional director. A botanist by training, Peg has 31 years of experience in nonprofit funding, management, land protection and stewardship. Her current projects include implementing an $18 million green infrastructure initiative known as the Greenseams in collaboration with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to reduce future flooding non-structurally by purchasing hydric soil and working with the State of Michigan and City of Ann Arbor with the acquisition of over 90 farmland development rights easements.

Bill Labich is the regional conservationist for Highstead, where he works to advance regional and landscape-scale conservation efforts across Southern New England and New York. By researching and communicating lessons on successful models of collaboration at the regional and national levels, Bill seeks to strengthen existing partnerships of individuals and organizations at the local, regional, state, and multi-state levels intent conserving regional forest landscapes. Bill brings to this position considerable familiarity with the Redding region as well as conservation experience from across New England.  Since 1985 he has been in community and land use planning, environmental education, and forest management working with local, state and regional governments, non-profits, and private landowners. For the last nine years as a regional land use planner Bill has assisted communities across Western Massachusetts to retain the vibrancy and character of their communities, watersheds, and landscapes. Previously, Bill served as Director of Education and Resident Forester for the New England Forestry Foundation.

Natalie Lamberjack is a senior consultant with The Collins Group, a fundraising consulting firm based in the Pacific Northwest. Natalie has helped more than 40 nonprofit organizations meet their fundraising goals by creating plans and strategies that fit their organizations’ cultures and missions. Natalie has served as lead counsel for five campaigns that have risen $72 million in private and public funds. Natalie is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Willamette Valley Development Officers, and has an MPA from the University of Washington Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs.

Matthew Larrabee is an adjunct professor of real estate at the Pamplin School of Business at the University of Portland and at the Center for Real Estate Studies Portland State University. He is a frequent instructor for the Appraisal Institute. He is the principal appraiser and owner of Real Estate Services Group, Inc. Matthew is a state general certified real estate appraiser with an MAI designation, and works heavily with land trusts and government agencies that acquire land through voluntary acquisitions. He holds a certificate in the Valuation of Conservation Easements from the Appraisal Institute.

Kris Larson is the executive director of the Minnesota Land Trust, where he has worked in various capacities since 1998. Kris also served as the executive director of the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts and worked at the Brandywine Conservancy in Pennsylvania. He has a masters in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia’s School of Environmental Design and a bachelors from Carleton College.

Kathy Leavenworth is a board member of Western Reserve Land Conservancy and served as board president during a period of great growth and progress. She helped lead the merger of eight land trusts which was reported to be the largest merger of land trusts in the U.S. Kathy also serves on several other boards including the Land Trust Alliance’s National Advisory Council, Rescue Village and the Geauga County Park District Foundation Board. Kathy brings a perspective like none other as she spent 30 years on the West Geauga School Board and served on the Ohio to the State Board of Education.

Rob Levin practices law in Portland, Maine, specializing in land conservation. He represents a variety of land trusts and landowners, and has spoken and written extensively on land conservation issues. Since 2005, Rob has written and updated Land Conservation Case Law Summaries for the Land Trust Alliance.

Jim Levitt is director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University, and a research fellow at the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has written and lectured widely on how communications and transportation networks have enabled dramatic shifts in land use over the course of American history, and how a new generation of networks – the Internet and express delivery systems – is enabling further changes in how and where Americans live, work, trade, learn, play, and interact with nature. Prior to coming to the university, Jim developed corporate strategy related to the emergence of the Internet and electronic commerce for Fortune 50 sized companies as a principal at GeoPartners Research, Inc. He is active as a director of several environmental organizations, including the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center for the Environment. Jim is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale School of Management.

Paul MacDonald is a director and shareholder of the Concord, N.H. law firm of Ransmeier & Spellman P.C. Paul concentrates his practice in real estate, land use and municipal law, and land conservation law, and is admitted to practice both in New Hampshire and Vermont. Paul is a past chair of Five Rivers Conservation Trust.

Karin Marchetti Ponte has been general counsel to Maine Coast Heritage Trust for 26 years, and principal of Land Conservation Legal Services since 1992. She is the co-author of the Conservation Easement Handbook.

Carol Mayes is a partner and consultant at Mayes Wilson & Associates, LLC. She has 25 years of experience in executive leadership, organizational development, planning, program development, land conservation, science and stewardship. Her visionary approach to conservation has led to creating strategic alliances, developing partnerships with federal, state and local agencies, and securing millions of dollars for conservation. She is the previous founding director for The Nature Conservancy's US Virgin Island and Eastern Caribbean program and spent many years as the North Carolina chapter director of science and stewardship.

Matthew McKinney is director of the Center for Natural Resources and Environment Policy at the University of Montana. His work focuses on collaboration and conflict resolution on issues related to natural resource and environmental quality. Prior to his current position, Matthew served as the founding director of the Montana Consensus Council for 10 years. During the past 20 years, he has designed, facilitated, and mediated over 50 public processes on issues related to water, federal lands, fish and wildlife, land use, regional planning, landscape conservation, and other public issues. He has worked with communities, watershed groups, state and federal governments, Native Americans and First Nations, foundations, and a number of international organizations. He received a doctorate in Natural Resource Policy and Conflict Resolution from The University of Michigan; has published numerous articles in journals and books; coauthored The Western Confluence: A Guide to Governing Natural Resources (Island Press, 2004) and Working Across Boundaries: People, Nature, and Regions (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2009)); and teaches workshops, seminars, and courses on natural resource policy and public dispute resolution. Matthew is an adjunct professor at The University of Montana’s School of Law; chair of the Natural Resource Conflict Resolution Program (the only graduate-level certificate program of its kind in North America); senior associate at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; and senior partner with the Consensus Building Institute. He serves on the board for the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, and was a research fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2000 and 2002. Matthew is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, International Association for Public Participation, and the American Planning Association.

Ezra Milchman leads Metropolitan Group’s Environment and Sustainability Program with an emphasis on organizational development, branding/marketing, constituent engagement and fundraising. Ezra brings nearly 20 years of experience in the environmental sector where he has led private and public fundraising campaigns, built powerful brands and public awareness campaigns, and grown organizational impact through strategic planning, board and staff development, and improved financial management. Previously, Ezra served as the president and CEO of River Network, a national river protection organization that he re-positioned through strategic planning to better connect with priority environmental issues of our time: public health, connecting youth with nature, green economic development, and multicultural inclusion. Ezra also served as national director of the Land Trust Alliance where he spent more than eight years working to increase the pace, quality and permanence of land conservation, coast to coast. He played a key role in building the Alliance’s capacity to respond to a major Congressional investigation into conservation business practices, and helped turn the inquiry into a major victory for conservation when Congress enacted significant tax reform to stimulate additional conservation donations. While at the Alliance, he hired Metropolitan Group to collaborate on the Alliance’s rebranding initiative that repositioned the organization as a leader in land conservation, and helped it reach new and diverse audiences and donors. Prior to joining the Alliance, Ezra served in various leadership positions with The Nature Conservancy, including director of protection for New Jersey.

Jim Morris' career spans 30 years in the human resources and organizational development field. He spent his early career focusing on the human resources issues involved in mergers with several private sector companies before opening his own consulting practice in 1991. Jim built a highly successful regional human resources consulting firm, MBL Group which he led for over 18 years. At MBL Group, he led the Stewardship Services Practice focused on consulting to nonprofit organizations primarily in environmental, alternative energy, conservation and sustainability. In 2010 Jim joined the Solid Ground Consulting Group to manage the Sustainable Leadership Practice focusing on Leadership Development, Succession Planning and Executive Transitions in the Conservation sector nationwide.

Anne Murphy is the conservation stewardship director at the Minnesota Land Trust, where she leads the conservation planning, GIS, and stewardship efforts. Anne is the online expert for The Learning Center's land protection and stewardship forums. She received her bachelors in biology and piano performance from Alma College and a graduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems from Cleveland State University. Anne is also a certified GIS professional.

Stefan Nagel is a nationally recognized authority on the private protection of environmentally and culturally significant properties. Following an active real estate and environmental law practice in this country and abroad, Stefan served for nearly 15 years as legal counsel to The Nature Conservancy and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since 1995 Stefan has been Of Counsel to the Law Office of Stephen J. Small, Esq., P. C. in Boston. Stefan has negotiated and closed hundreds of land conservation and historic preservation transactions and assisted innumerable property owners in planning the succession of important properties.

Colin Novick is the executive director of the Greater Worcester Land Trust and has over 15 years experience with land conservation in an urban context. Colin served as the chair of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. He has presented at Rally, the Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference, state and regional gatherings, and local events.

Jane Prohaska is an attorney and independent consultant, having recently stepped down after nine years as president and executive director of the Minnesota Land Trust. Jane previously worked for The Nature Conservancy for 18 years, initially as regional counsel and later as vice president and regional director. She also worked for Minnesota Attorney General for several years. Jane has a law degree from the University of Minnesota and a bachelors from Carleton College.

Magdalena Ridley began her work with LandPaths in 2007 as the community outreach specialist for the Bayer Farm project, a unique public access model at a future city park site in Roseland, a largely-Latino area of Sonoma County. Building on the success of that project, her work at LandPaths has grown and she is now the bilingual programs coordinator, organizing Spanish-language hikes and stewardship projects, consulting on public outreach for park-planning efforts, and developing ever-diverse LandPaths offerings in conjunction with other staff.

Breece Robertson is director of geographic information systems for the Trust for Public Land (TPL) where she supervises collection and analysis of GIS data nationwide. Breece leads efforts to create an easy-to-use Greenprinting model, which fosters collaboration among stakeholders and provides a more focused way to consider diverse interests and community values.

Illene Roggensack is president of Third Sector Innovations, providing marketing, management, planning and fundraising services. She holds a bachelors in public relations/advertising, a masters in business administration and Certified Fund Raising Executive. Illene is a frequent Rally presenter and sits on the editorial board for the Alliance's Saving Land quarterly magazine.

Eric Rowley is a Certified Public Accountant, who has been practicing for 30 years and works with nonprofit organizations with special emphasis on land trusts and conservation organizations. He has volunteered on several nonprofit boards and regularly provides financial presentations to nonprofit boards and committees.

Tom Scharffenberger is a landscape architect and conservation planner who assists nonprofit organizations and landowners with individual acquisition projects, as well as the development of strategic conservation plans for entire regions. He has prepared conservation plans for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, American Farmland Trust, The Nature Conservancy, the Great Valley Center and several California land trusts.

Stephen Small is a leading authority on land protection options and tax strategies. Steve wrote the Federal income tax regulations on conservation easements for the Internal Revenue Service and the tax law treatise The Federal Tax Law of Conservation Easements. Steve also delivers speeches and leads workshops on tax issues and land preservation.

Marc Smiley is an organizational consultant and national thought-leader on building strong, effective land trust. He has written two curricula for the Alliance's Learning Center Program, and been a workshop presenter at more than two dozen Rallies, land trust conferences, and regional workshops. He was a member of the Accreditation Task Force and original member of the Accreditation Commission, and currently serves as a member of the editorial board of Saving Land. Marc has worked directly with more than 500 land trusts nationwide.

Sarah Strommen is associate director for the Minnesota Land Trust, where she is responsible for developing and implementing conservation programs and managing project funding. Sarah has a bachelors in biology from Grinnell College and a masters in environmental management from Duke University. She also was a Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica, where she investigated sustainable development and bird conservation.

Steve Swartz is general counsel of the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, an international land trust based in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was in private practice for nearly 20 years concentrating in the areas of real estate law and governmental regulation with particular emphasis on litigation, arbitration, dispute resolution and loss prevention. He has presented programs on various aspects of real estate and construction law and litigation avoidance for commercial and non-profit audiences, including at prior Rallies where he is a frequent presenter on real estate and conservation easement topics. Steve is a member of the Land Trust Accreditation Commission and the Land Trust Alliance's Conservation Defense Advisory Council.

Gary Tabor is executive director of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation in Montana. He has championed large landscape conservation efforts throughout the world, notably the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. His efforts have increased the conservation capacity of the Wildlife Conservation Society, the African Wildlife Foundation, the Wildlife Trust and numerous other conservation organizations. More recently, Gary established and directed the Wilburforce Foundation's Yellowstone to Yukon field office in Montana and in 1999 designed one of the first conservation science grant making programs in western North America. His conservation background includes eight years of international conservation work in East Africa and South America. Trained as a wildlife veterinarian and an ecologist, Gary also co-founded the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, an ecological health collaborative linking ecology, epidemiology, human and veterinary medicine, and public health. During his career, Gary has served as an adviser to six major private foundations and several bilateral and multilateral donor agencies in the area of environmental philanthropy. Gary is currently the NGO representative on the Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation Biology. 

Leah Whidden is vice president of strategic relationships for the Western Reserve Land Conservancy in Ohio. Leah, who joined the Land Conservancy in 2004, served as the organization's director of development for the first six years before being promoted to vice president last year. In her current role, Leah is responsible for facilitating and cultivating high impact relationships and creating and implementing campaign plans for both fundraising and land protection opportunities. This includes the identification, qualification, cultivation and personal solicitation of relationships that meaningfully advance the Land Conservancy's mission. She brings a wealth of fundraising experience from her prior job as director of development of Hillcrest Hospital, part of The Cleveland Clinic.

Sara Wilson is a partner and consultant at Mayes Wilson & Associates, LLC. Sara has more than 20 years of experience working with land and water conservation volunteers, board directors and nonprofit executives. By analyzing organizational capacity and helping organizations define priorities, she helps nonprofit leaders transform their passion and commitment for the mission into organizational success. She recently graduated from the Board Consultant Institute, two years of intensive training for board and organizational consultants. Sara was the associate director for the Nature Conservancy's US Virgin Islands and Eastern Caribbean program and the director of volunteers for the Oklahoma Chapter.