Board of Directors

Staff

Howard Mathison, President, is the proprietor of Main Street Millwork in Greenfield, Massachusetts, which produces custom wooden millwork including moldings for frames and flooring. Howard lives in Warwick, Massachusetts.

Mary Williamson, Vice President, and her husband John moved to Warwick from Boston four years ago when they bought on old farm which is completely surrounded by state forest. Having spent time growing up on the family farm on Martha’s Vineyard where the development pressures are so extreme, Mary has a strong appreciation of the importance of taking initiative to preserve open space. Since moving to Warwick, Mary has become chairman of the open space committee and is also secretary of the conservation commission. In addition to being active in the town, Mary has maintained close connections with the Eastern Orthodox parish in Boston where her husband is a deacon. She is a tonsured reader there for church services, secretary of the board of directors, and sings in the choir.

Allen Tupper Brown, Treasurer, his wife Sandy and their three children left Washington, DC in 1984 where he had been working in a law firm for 16 years. They bought an old farm in Gill, and for a number of years kept a small herd of Dexter cows, and continue to manage the hayfields and pasture. Since moving to Gill, Tupper works as a consultant to engineering, manufacturing and construction companies in connection with large litigation matters. Tupper serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Finance Committee in Gill and participated in Gill’s open space planning project and in the rewriting of Gill’s zoning by-laws. Over the years, Tupper has served on the Greater Northfield Watershed Association Board of Directors and recently assisted with Mount Grace’s Bascom Hollow land conservation project in Gill. Tupper and Sandy have worked on further conservation projects in their immediate neighborhood along the Connecticut River, and this year completed the conservation of their own land and 80 acres of their adjoining neighbor’s land.

Celt Grant, Clerk, is a resident of the Butterworth Farm community in Royalston where he moved five years ago from Boston. It was a welcome return to the rural living he knew as a youth on the family farm in Andover. Unfortunately, the mansions are the only crop growing there now, a telling commentary on the relentless loss of open space in our state and region. Celt’s enduring passion is preserving the New England landscape including farms, forests and historic structures. He serves on the town historic district commission, enjoys outdoor activities, and continues his work of preserving and adapting old buildings.

Nancy Allen and her partner, Charles Crowley, moved to Petersham from Boston in 2001. Nancy is a graphic designer and Charles is an architect. Nancy has participated in a variety of local and regional projects mainly focused on environmental, historical, and cultural interests. She has served on a variety of local boards, including as chairman of the Petersham Selectboard and Historic District Commission and as a member of the School Committee and Capital Planning Committee, among other public positions.  Nancy serves on the boards of the Historical Society and the Craft Center, where she is co-president, and is a former board member of the Petersham Memorial Library.

Warren Facey has owned Bree-Z-Knoll Farm since 1972. The farm, a dairy, also produces maple syrup from a 3,000-tap system. He has been Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of Dairy Farmers for over twenty years and serves on the boards of the Franklin County Farm Bureau, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, the Our Family Farms milk marketing cooperative, and the Leyden Agriculture Commission and Leyden Planning Board.

Peter Haley works at Morin Real Estate in Winchendon. Over the past ten years Peter has worked with Mount Grace on conservation land sales protecting land in the North Quabbin area. Peter has been an active participant in local historical societies, local Lions and Rotary clubs. He lives with his wife Jo Ann in Templeton where he serves on the Planning Board and is Town Moderator.

Bonnie House lives in Phillipston where she has served on the zoning board of appeals and the conservation commission. She was responsible for updating the 2001 Open Space Plan for the town. She became a full time glass artist after retiring from teaching graphic design at Fitchburg State College.

Leonard Johnson and his wife Marjorie have lived in Carlisle for the past 30 years. They both have a strong lifelong interest in New England outdoor activities and land conservation, and have nearly completed hiking the New England 100 Highest Peaks. In recent years they have greatly enjoyed the landscape of the North Quabbin region. Lenny, a researcher in electronics and optics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has long been active in local Carlisle activities. He is treasurer of the local non-profit newspaper, the Carlisle Mosquito, and he previously chaired the town Finance Committee and Capital Requirements Committee.

Kees (Cornelis) Overgaag was born in the Netherlands and lived for ten years in France where he learned sustainable farming practices.  His farming experience eventually led to a job providing vocational farm training for at-risk Dutch youth.   Kees came to the United States in 2009 to join his brothers Paul and Jaap.  He runs Charlie’s Red House Farm in Winchendon, a certified organic farm protected by Mount Grace in 1998, which supplies The Red House and Charlie’s Kitchen in Cambridge, owned by the Overgaags.  Kees chose organic farming as a way of working with nature and hopes to inspire more people to find joy and sustenance in nature.

Conor Power is a Professional Engineer and a retired structural engineering consultant who lives in Montague with his wife Marcia. Red Fire Farm, a land conservation partner of Mount Grace, is currently farming his land.  Prior to his retirement, Conor’s engineering firm was involved almost exclusively in the preservation of historic structures in this country and ancient structures in Turkey, Egypt, Yemen, and Cyprus.  He believes passionately in the conservation of open space as a necessary element for us to remember our past and to help us connect with the environment and with each other across the generations.

Mike Roche is the social studies department coordinator at Mahar Regional High School where he has taught since 1974 except for four years when he worked as the regional director for Ducks Unlimited in Massachusetts. Mike serves on the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Board as board secretary. Over the past 25 years, Mike has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish and Game Club, believed to be the oldest high school fish and game club in the state; as a Massachusetts volunteer hunter education instructor; as a member of Massachusetts’ Project WILD advisory committee; as director and assistant director of the Massachusetts Junior Conservation Camp; as chair of the New England Outdoor Writers Association Scholarship committee for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and as a writer for the Athol Daily News. Mike lives in Orange.

Mount Grace Staff

Leigh Youngblood, Executive Director, During Leigh’s 17-year tenure, Mount Grace has grown from two to twelve staff.  With its partners, Mount Grace has protected 25,000 acres since 1986, and actively manages 1,500 acres of forest land.  Leigh’s application of a cooperative approach, both internally and externally, has led to many successful partnerships and innovative landscape-scale conservation projects with land trusts of all sizes, state agencies, and multi-level collaboratives. Leigh has served as an officer of the Mass Land Trust Coalition and on Land Trust Alliance national committees. She played a key role in establishing and maintaining the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership, which brings together diverse groups to protect strategic open space. Leigh has consulted on conservation projects in Oregon, New Hampshire, and Georgia.

David Graham Wolf, Conservation Director, is a conservation biologist, naturalist, and educator with over 10-years of experience working with private landowners, municipalities and conservation organizations on strategic conservation projects in New England.  As a former field biologist David applies his knowledge of New England’s native biota and his skills in GIS analysis to plan multi-landowner landscape-scale projects.  David is focused on building partnerships among local and regional land trusts to accelerate the pace of conservation in Massachusetts and is working on multiple collaborative Forest Legacy projects and the Wildlands and Woodlands Western Massachusetts Aggregation Project.  With a bachelor’s degree in management and two master’s degrees, one in education and the other in conservation biology, David has run his own conservation consulting business and taught in the Division of Natural Sciences at Franklin Pierce University.

Paul Daniello, Conservation Project Manager, has a strong technical background and a history of working on complex environmental problems. He joined Mount Grace in 2006. Previously, Paul worked for nine years as a water quality specialist with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, coordinating development of total maximum daily loads, assisting municipalities in meeting regulatory requirements, and writing wastewater discharge permits. He also has 15 years of commercial laboratory experience as a manager and chemist overseeing organic pollutant analyses such as dioxins, furans, PCBs, and volatile organics. Paul is a life-member of Trout Unlimited and assists the Buffalo Field Campaign in its efforts to expand habitat for wild Yellowstone bison. He also conducts water quality monitoring with the Ashuelot River Local Advisory Committee. Paul has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hofstra University and is completing a master’s degree in resource management and administration at Antioch University-New England.

Tom Wansleben, Stewardship Biologist, oversees the stewardship program which includes monitoring conservation restriction properties, working with private landowners and managing our fee owned conservation areas for wildlife habitat, sustainable timber, and recreation.  Before joining Mount Grace in 2006, Tom worked on wildlife management and ecological restoration programs throughout the United States for a variety of organizations, including the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and The Nature Conservancy. He has a M.S. in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England and a B.S. in Natural Sciences from Lyndon State College.  His graduate research focused on modeling habitat use of Barred Owls in New Hampshire.  Tom likes to spend his free time fly fishing, waterfowl hunting and snowboarding.

Jennifer Smith, Land Conservation Associate, worked as an organic farmer, educator, and organizer for five years in California and Massachusetts before joining Mount Grace in 2008. Most recently Jen worked as a Farmer-Teacher at The Farm School in Athol, Massachusetts instructing adults in the theory and practice of organic agriculture. Jen joins Mount Grace with a passion for protecting the natural and working landscapes of the North Quabbin region. Jen is also an avid gardener and beekeeper, and enjoys hiking the trails of our region. She has a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College.

Jay Rasku, North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership Coordinator, worked as an environmental organizer for 12 years before joining Mount Grace in 2006. Previously, Jay was the Southern New England States Director of the Toxics Action Center, where he worked with community groups to clean up and prevent toxic pollution from landfills, incinerators, hazardous waste sites, polluting facilities and pesticide applications. Jay started his career with the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, first as a campus organizer and later as organizing director for the group’s environmental, consumer and democracy programs in central Massachusetts. He has bachelor’s degrees in biology and studio art from Bates College.

Dee Robbins, Massachusetts Land Initiative for Tomorrow Program Manager joined Mount Grace in 2010 to run the expanded Common Ground program. A former conservation associate of the Monadnock Conservancy,  Dee began her environmental career as an intern studying chimpanzees with Dr. Jane Goodall.  She has also worked at Earthwatch Institute, developing and managing programs that engaged student volunteers in scientific research around the country.  She has a Master’s degree from Antioch University-New England in Resource Management and Administration.

Pam Kimball, Development Director, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars while at Mount Grace for land protection projects and the operating budget through her work in securing grants from public and private funding sources and through donations. Since joining Mount Grace in 2002, Pam has helped to manage organizational growth and development, including the expansion of the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership. With a vision of a sustainable world developed through social ecology studies during travel worldwide, Pam has worked since 1990 with organizations such as EarthAction Network in Amherst, Earthlands in Petersham, and The Farm School in Athol. She has a bachelor’s degree in business from Babson College and has completed post-graduate studies in social ecology and elementary education.

Nathan Rudolph, Director of Donor Relations, is responsible for managing Mount Grace’s communications and individual giving programs. Nathan joined Mount Grace in 2006 after working for more than 12 years in nonprofit development with the Oregon Humane Society, Bentley College, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Greenpeace USA, and other organizations. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota.

David Kotker, Membership Coordinator, joined Mount Grace in 2007. He is responsible for thanking members for their support, coordinating the planning and promoting of membership events and activities, and managing and expanding the volunteer program. He has worked in fundraising for nonprofit environmental and conservation groups for over ten years, including four years with Greenpeace and four with the Citizens Awareness Network. He has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College.

Sean Pollock, Director of Finance and Operations, manages day-to-day operations at Mount Grace, including finances, human resources, technology systems, and building facilities. He joined the organization in 2006. Sean worked for five years as the operations and technology coordinator for the Environmental Leadership Program, taught outdoor education in the Redwoods of California, and spent two years in AmeriCorps doing environmental education, land restoration, and trail-building. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Skidmore College.

Lisa Cormier, Office Manager, joined Mount Grace in 2007 after working seven years for the United Way of North Central Massachusetts. Prior to that, she worked for many years at Simplex Time Recorder Co., starting as a payroll clerk and promoted to administrative assistant in several departments due to her software skills. Lisa specializes in database management and office efficiency. She appreciates nature and exploring the back roads of New England. She is also an artist who favors drawing in pen and ink.