Jane Myers Stone has been hired as the new executive director of the Bainbridge Island Land Trust, the nonprofit announced Tuesday.
Myers Stone is a longtime islander and geotechnical engineer who co-owned and operated Myers Biodynamics on Bainbridge for more than 20 years.
Land trust officials said she has an extended history of involvement with the organization, and previously served as a board member and volunteer before returning to the board in 2013.
“Jane’s geotechnical consulting work on island properties has made her extremely familiar with land characteristics and conservation efforts on the island and how the land trust can best serve the Island,” said land trust president David Harrison.
“In addition, her small business experience has given her excellent leadership and management skills,” he said.
Myers Stone will be co-directing the land trust with Connie Waddington, and will take over as the full-time executive director in June.
It’s been a busy time for the land trust. The organization has recently completed the $3.4 million, 36-acre Hilltop acquisition campaign and its $1.05 million West Bainbridge Shoreline acquisition project.
The nonprofit is also welcoming four new board members this year: Gene Seligmann, Hilary Hilscher, Erin Kellogg and Deb Rudnick.
Seligmann is a recently retired attorney who has represented property owners on the island in a variety of transactions including transfers involving the land trust. Hilscher is a journalist who spent much of her career in her native Alaska and her last 20 years working for The Nature Conservancy and the Audubon Society. Kellogg is an experienced conservation nonprofit manager having worked as director of Ecotrust in Canada and as a staff member in Portland, Ore. Rudnick is an ecologist who specializes in stream, wetland and estuarine ecology.
The new officers for 2014 are Harrison, president; Waddington, vice president (June-December); Jan Mulder, secretary; and Barb Robert, treasurer.
The board and staff of the land trust said they are eager to work with such talented people who bring a wide range of knowledge and enthusiasm for conservation and stewardship work for the benefit of all Bainbridge Islanders.
