ECGA.ORG - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director, Conservation Technology and Planning Division
Abby has a Master's Degree in Environmental Policy & Planning from Tufts University and a Bachelor's in Communication from Emerson College. She has been a visiting instructor of GIS at Salem State University (SSU) and founded Greenbelt's collobarative internship program with SSU in 2013.
Prior to joining Greenbelt in 2011, she worked for a municipality on wetland and open space permitting and management. As a lifelong lover of animals and nature Abby is happiest when horseback riding or hiking with her dog Teddy.
As Development Manager, Ann works to ensure a solid revenue base for Greenbelt's operations through connecting our community and beyond to the importance of Greenbelt's land conservation work.
Ann is an outdoor enthusiast and has spent most of her life near the coast. She grew up in Hingham, spent time living in Portsmouth, and has resided in Essex County for the past 20+ years, where she has enjoyed the access to the many stunning Greenbelt properties.
Her business background includes roles in marketing, analytics, and sales.
Job Titles:
- Donor & Community Engagement Specialist
Anna spends her days at the headquarters of Greenbelt making sure that all is running smoothly. She considers herself to be the one who wears many hats in her role as a Donor & Community Engagement Specialist. Her days are often spent doing gift processing and interacting with members, in person, by email, or over the phone, while ensuring that her team has everything they need to continue their mission of protecting the land in Essex County.
Anna was born deaf and grew up orally, and she currently wears a cochlear implant. She is a proud graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with her undergraduate degree in history and a graduate of Harvard University with her master's in museum studies.
Before arriving at Greenbelt, she worked in the museum and library field, with her longest stint on the guest experience team at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. Outside of her professional life, she is an avid hiker, who just completed the New Hampshire 4,000-footers with her husband and dog by her side. Her other interests include reading, baking/cooking, and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Conservation Operations
Chris provides leadership in land conservation throughout Essex County and leads our campaign to conserve 10,000 acres in the region. In his time at Greenbelt, he has worked to conserve more than 1,300 acres with a fair market value of more than $15 million.
Chris helps landowners navigate the financial and sometimes emotional aspects of conserving their land and making decisions for the future. He especially enjoys the process of engaging with communities around their values: close to home recreation, protection of wildlife habitat and farms, and clean drinking water.
His signature project is the John J. Donovan Reservation & Sagamore Hill Conservation Area-a complex, multi-partner project that required the mobilization of $5.1 million to create a corridor of 525 acres of permanently protected land.
Chris, who has degrees in environmental policy and natural resource planning from Colby College and the University of Vermont, enjoys hiking, gardening and exploring the natural beauty of Essex County. Before coming to Greenbelt, Chris worked for 12 years for The Trust for Public Land, where he conserved more than 2,750 acres across Massachusetts, with a fair market value of $75 million.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Secretary
- Vice Chair
Job Titles:
- Land MANAGER and TRAILS COORDINATOR
Job Titles:
- Dir of Land Stewardship
- Director of Land Stewardship
Rimmer has overseen the construction of the stewardship barn, the expansion, and renovation of Greenbelt headquarters and many other improvements at the Cox Reservation in Essex. He has managed the opening of all new Greenbelt reservations, including the 270-acre Donovan Reservation in Hamilton in 2017. He developed and implemented a new conservation restriction monitoring program, as well as working on Greenbelt mapping and database projects.
Job Titles:
- Land Conservation Specialist
Elizabeth works with landowners in the belief that we all have a role to play in protecting the lands and waters of Essex County. She works to familiarize them with the beneficial options available to meet their conservation and financial goals.
Before joining the Conservation team, Elizabeth first worked at Greenbelt as a member of Development & Community Engagement, bringing a strong background in non-profit development work.
Elizabeth has a lifelong passion for animals and the natural world. She thoroughly enjoys being outdoors-on horseback, on bike, on a romp with her two Collies, or on a hike with her kids.
Job Titles:
- Events & Outreach MANAGER
She works to create a wide variety of programs throughout all corners of Essex County, as well as meeting the needs of all age groups and lifestyles of participants. Jane is also part of our efforts to make our reservations and properties accessible to all.
Jane is a former public-school teacher and brings that background to her work educating and reaching out to a new generation of Greenbelt supporters interested in conservation. On the occasional free weekend, she can be found backpacking or trailrunning in the mountains, or sailing along the coast.
Job Titles:
- Conservation Fellow
- Land Conservation Fellow / Operations
Job Titles:
- Greenbelt 's Volunteer Program Assistant
- Volunteer Program Assistant
As Greenbelt's Volunteer Program Assistant, Joan O'Connor supports our volunteers. She onboards new volunteers, spearheads our new Gentle Trails program, works on the database, and helps with events.
"I want to make sure our volunteers' experiences are enriching and rewarding. It's important that volunteering at Greenbelt is easy and fun," said Joan.
Previously, Joan worked as Greenbelt's Accounting Assistant to support many of our financial processes. Prior to that, she had been volunteering with Greenbelt as a member of our mail crew, assisting in that role remotely during the pandemic.
Joan lives in Magnolia and is an avid gardener and cook. She also spends much of her free time walking Greenbelt properties.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance & Operations
As Greenbelt's full time Director of Finance and Operations, Joanne Flannery brings her many years of accounting and operations experience to Greenbelt.
Previous to Greenbelt, Joanne worked for over 20 years at North Shore 104.9FM/WBOQ radio in the accounting and operations area where she oversaw the day to day operations on Enon Street in Beverly and the tower location in Topsfield.
Joanne has lived in the Ryal Side area of Beverly for 30 years with her husband and two sons. One married and one single (so if you know of a nice girl…) and expecting her first grandchild in February 2023. She grew up in Reading, attended the local schools and went on to graduate from Northern Essex Community College and Bentley University.
Kate Bowditch joined Greenbelt in 2018 after serving for 25 years in leadership positions at the Charles River Watershed Association. A published scientist, Kate has a strong focus on conservation science and climate change.
Job Titles:
- Events & Admin Coordinator
A longtime nature enthusiast, Kelly joined Greenbelt after serving as a volunteer in the office, on the trails, and at Greenbelt's signature events. As Events & Administration Coordinator, she is thrilled to contribute to Greenbelt's mission through office support and community engagement.
Prior to joining Greenbelt, Kelly spent 35+ years supporting teams in residential architecture and construction, advertising, education, and hospitality on the east and west coasts.
In recent years, Kelly assisted the team at Carpenter & MacNeille and led admissions outreach and events at the Waldorf School at Moraine Farm, a Frederick Law Olmsted property.
Kelly lives on Chebacco Lake with her husband and rescue hound and loves to experience the natural beauty on Cape Ann and throughout Essex County on long walks, often using the GreenbeltGo app to discover new trails. Through Greenbelt, she has a certificate in Wilderness First Aid. She is also a member of the Gloucester Gig Rowers and Sorellanza, an a cappella chorus group on Cape Ann.
Job Titles:
- Volunteer Program Manager
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Land Stewardship
- Asst. Dir of Land Stewardship
Mike manages Greenbelt's Conservation Restriction Monitoring Program, coordinating with landowners of diverse and varied private landscapes throughout Essex County. The process involves initial baseline documentation when a conservation restriction is first acquired and continues with routine monitoring of a restriction to ensure a landowners' ongoing compliance with the terms of the agreement.
Carbone also assists in the management of all Greenbelt-owned properties, from trail design and construction to long-term care and maintenance of a property. He manages the Young Farm Community Garden in Gloucester, overseeing a number of gardeners and garden plots, and is active in the Osprey Program.
Mike has also found a role in Greenbelt's GIS Program, creating maps for both internal and external purposes. He assisted in a total upgrade of our databases, maintaining and updating Greenbelt records.
Carbone has a Bachelor's Degree in Community and Environmental Studies and got his first taste for the land trust world while in college. Prior to joining Greenbelt in 2012, Mike worked for a non-profit that supported a national wildlife refuge group, and an environmental consulting firm. His passion for land conservation stems from lifelong enjoyment of the outdoor world. Mike believes in Greenbelt's mission to preserve natural resources and open spaces and is proud to be able to help people enjoy the land that Greenbelt conserves
Job Titles:
- DIRECTOR of DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Working at Greenbelt since 2017, Rachel has enjoyed strengthening Greenbelt's supporter and community partnerships through her work in the Development and Community Engagement department. Before accepting the position of Director, Rachel supported the department through strategic marketing initiatives, data analysis, and fundraising work.
Rachel looks forward to further engaging Greenbelt's base of support, expanding relationships and deepening ties in the community. She loves the culture that Greenbelt fosters with its donors, community partners, and amongst its staff, and strongly believes in Greenbelt's mission. Being a part of such a well-respected organization makes the work all the more enjoyable.
Prior to Greenbelt, Rachel worked in sales and marketing at a safari company. A Texas transplant, Rachel moved to New England to complete a Master's degree at Boston University, and happily put down roots in beautiful New England. When she's not hiking the local trails with her family, Rachel can be found tending her beehives and enjoying open water swimming.
As a member of Greenbelt's Development and Engagement team, Sharon assists in meeting Greenbelt's strategic marketing objectives by creating and managing ongoing graphic design across all departments.
She works closely with colleagues, constituents, and vendors to create newsletters, land campaigns, guidebooks, event promotions, kiosks and signage to enhance awareness of and constituency for Greenbelt's land conservation.
In 2012, working as a consultant, she spearheaded Greenbelt's rebranding effort and was subsequently invited to join the staff as Design Manager.
Prior to joining Greenbelt, Sharon worked for the design firm Fitch/Richardson Smith in Ohio, Boston and London, settling with her husband and children in the North Shore to be near Boston, open countryside and the ocean.
Job Titles:
- Director, Land Conservation Division
Vanessa brings over 20 years of experience in land conservation and a passion for working with people to preserve land to her position as Director of Land Conservation Division at Greenbelt.
After participating in efforts to save Coho salmon in Oregon and grizzly bears in Montana, Vanessa began her land trust career in Napa, California. Following a break to teach English in Ecuador, Vanessa settled back in her home state of Massachusetts in 2007.
Vanessa enjoys visiting and eating from local farm stands, kayaking, trail running, XC skiing, bicycling, and hiking mountains near and far.