Westchester Land Trust Celebrates Founding Director Susan Henry

 Welcomes Four New Leaders to Board & Advisory

Bedford Hills, NY – Bruce Churchill, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Westchester Land Trust (WLT), announced the retirement of founding Director, Susan Henry and praised her for her three decades of leadership and service. A native of Waccabuc, Ms. Henry served as Secretary of the Board for nearly 20 years and was actively involved with WLT’s land preservation and community outreach activities. To celebrate her visionary leadership and significant contributions, Ms. Henry will be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at WLT’s Annual Benefit on June 1^st.

In a recent meeting, Churchill announced the appointment of new leadership to the Bedford Hills-based land conservation organization. Katonah resident, Nancy J. Karch, joins the Board of Directors while Susan Oakley (Mamaroneck, NY), Karen Hiniker Simons (Katonah, NY), and Janelle Robbins (Somers, NY) have been appointed to WLT’s Advisory Board.

“Our newest Board and Advisory members embody the spirit of collaboration and collectively bring top-notch talent, expertise, and enthusiasm to our organization at incredibly pivotal time. We are coming off a banner year of land protection, with more than 600 acres protected in 2018, and the addition of these new Directors strengthens our ability to broaden our impact and reach,” said Churchill.

Nancy J. Karch returns to the WLT Board of Directors

Nancy J. Karch returns to the Board after a 6-year hiatus. Ms. Karch is a former Senior Partner of the international consulting firm, McKinsey & Company.  In her 26 years with McKinsey, she held several leadership positions, including Managing Partner of the Retail and Consumer Industries Sector, and Managing Partner of McKinsey Southeast United States. Since retiring in 2000, Ms. Karch has pursued a part time career of board service.  In the past, she served on the boards of Nabisco, Toys “R” Us, Gillette, Kate Spade, CEB, and Genworth Financial.  She currently Chairs the Nominating and Governance Committees at both Mastercard and Kimberly-Clark.  In the past she chaired both Audit and Compensation committees and served as a Lead Director and as a Chair.  Ms. Karch also participates in not-for-profit leadership.  She has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC), as well as Chairman of the WAC Finance Committee.  She formerly was a Board member at the American Folk Art Museum and Northern Westchester Hospital, where she was Chair.  She currently serves on the board of the SPCA of Westchester and St Mary’s Children’s Health System.

Meet Karen Hiniker Simons (L), Janelle Robbins (C) and Susan Oakley, the newest members of our Advisory Board

Janelle Robbins, LEED AP, comes to WLT with 14 years of engineering and science, programmatic, and executive experience working with environmental and conservation nonprofits. Her technical areas of expertise include environmental impact assessments and permit review, and environmental site design. A Somers resident, Ms. Robbins has a wealth of knowledge about the region’s native flora and fauna.  She served as the Executive Director of Bedford Audubon Society based in Katonah, NY and was responsible for overseeing avian monitoring programs, land stewardship, and community engagement. Ms. Robbins currently works for an environmental engineering firm serving nonprofit and municipal clients.

Susan Oakley has been a resident of Westchester for 27 years and is a local business owner of the landscape design and build firm, Terra Bella Land Design, LLC. She serves as a landscape consultant to the Mamaroneck land use board. Ms. Oakley is a passionate environmental advocate and co-founded the Village of Mamaroneck Tree Committee which sets the standards for the proper planting of new trees in addition to advising on the health and maintenance of existing trees in the Village of Mamaroneck.

Karen Hiniker Simons is Principal of Hudson Varick Resources Ltd, a business advisory firm. Her work focuses on sustainable and equitable local economic development thorough food systems. Prior to founding Hudson Varick Resources Ltd., Karen spent 10 years in the financial services industry. Karen is a Certified Financial Analyst, a Master Gardener of Connecticut, and serves on the Boards of Bedford 2020, GreenWave and Westchester Growers Alliance.

WLT’s newly elected leaders are volunteers and will serve as members of the governing body of the Land Trust. Each director has been selected to represent the region WLT serves. Directors are ultimately responsible for the establishment of policies and to provide fiscal and strategic oversight of the organization.  WLT’s leadership shares a strong commitment to community engagement and service and a deep interest in local and regional conservation affairs.

WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST IS YOUR LAND TRUST

Based in Bedford Hills, NY the Westchester Land Trust has worked for 30 years with public and private partners to preserve land in perpetuity, and protect and enhance the natural resources in Westchester and eastern Putnam counties—a densely populated region under persistent threat from the pressures of development. Through the use of conservation easements and outright land acquisition, WLT’s efforts benefit the long-term health of these communities by safeguarding critical watershed areas, air quality, food supply and natural habitats, as well as contributing to climate resiliency.  Since its founding in 1988, WLT has preserved nearly 8,400 acres of open space including 775 acres of preserves owned by the organization which are free and open to the public year-round.

For more information visit westchesterlandtrust.org and connect with us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/WLandTrust), Instagram (@WestchesterLandTrust), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WLT_NY)