What is the significance of the location where you chose to meet?

“Our office at the land trust, is a former bank located in Blackrock, which is also the home of our flagship site, 1660 Niagara Street! We moved into The Blackrock Harbor center earlier this year. We love our corner office with lots of natural light! We share this address with the Black Rock Riverside Alliance, and several other environmental nonprofits.”

What’s your favorite part about working at the Buffalo Niagara River Land Trust?

“Our days we get to spend outside! I love getting to visit each of our sites, especially the Houghton Conservation Area, and all the amazing work that’s being done there.”

What keeps you motivated?

“Even though we’re a 13 year old organization, it feels new because we have full time staff now. So it feels like we’re building something brand new. Every day invites new opportunities, you never know what’s going to come across your desk…Getting to work on projects that restore brownfields sites to make them safe and publicly accessible again is very rewarding.”

“I grew up on a farm in Niagara county on the OTHER Great Lake. Working on my grandparents 50+ acre farm gave me my amazing work ethic. Farmers really know how to work, there are no days off.”

Where did you grow up?

What experience led you to where you are today?

“I started my career in a travel agency where eventually I planned group meetings all over the world. When my daughter was born I started my own event planning company where I worked with a lot of non-profits and fell in love with the passion they all have for their causes. Then one of them, Music is Art, offered me a full time position, and 17 years later I decided I wanted to return to my roots and revisit my passion for land conservation.”