Alliance Selects Conservation Veterans for Leadership Posts

We are delighted to announce a recent position change and a new hiring: Renee Kivikko, an Alliance staff member since 2000, has assumed the role of Director of Education; and Denise Schlener, a conservation veteran for over 30 years, has stepped into the position of National Director. Renee will lead the continued development of new approaches to training, technical assistance and research. She will work closely with Denise, who will lead the on-the-ground delivery of training and support, provided through the Alliance’s staff working with land trusts and partners around the country.

Renee Kivikko, Director of Education

After previously serving as the Alliance’s Midwest Director and National Director, Renee will now be responsible for guiding the continued development all of our education and training programs. As the new Director of Education, she brings her considerable conservation experience and knowledge of land trusts to her new role. By serving on innumerable task forces, managing delivery of training programs, leading the field staff, and heading up a multi-year effort funded by the Mott Foundation to improve planning and evaluation systems at the Alliance, "Renee has proven to be one of the Alliance’s most creative, dynamic, effective and resourceful senior managers," says Alliance President Rand Wenworth.

Simply put, she knows how to develop and deliver the programs on the ground. There’s no one better positioned to help ensure that our education division succeeds. Renee says, “We have all invested so much in developing our education programs that I really want to make sure that they get rolled out and integrated to their full potential.”

Among the highlights of Renee’s work at the Alliance are launching a host of mentoring and training programs for Midwest land trusts, doing countless organizational assessments, and helping to convene the Chicago Region Land Conservation Coalition and the Lake Superior Land Trust Partnership. These partnership efforts have enabled land trusts to build their capacity and develop new ways of working together more effectively, thereby enhancing their land and water conservation protection projects.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Ms. Kivikko was the first executive director of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. She was recognized in 1993 as Michigan’s top “Environmental Woman of Action” for her volunteer work to convene industry energy managers to share new approaches to non-process energy conservation for their facilities. We are indeed very fortunate to have someone of Renee’s quality with us for so many years, and are hugely appreciative of the many ways in which she continues to serve as a respected and senior leader for the Alliance.

Denise Schlener, National Director

Please join us in welcoming Denise Schlener, the second part of our new program senior leadership. As National Director, she is responsible for leading the delivery of the Alliance’s programs to land trusts nationally. She started work with us on April 23 and has hit the ground running.

Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Denise drew her inspiration from camping trips to the Adirondacks and the loss of open spaces on Long Island. She cut her teeth in professional environmental organizing and lobbying with her experience of working on the Alaska national interest lands legislation in the late 1970’s.

Denise brings to the Alliance 30 years of successful conservation experience at the local, state and national levels. Most recently she served as Director of the Chesapeake and Central Appalachians Field Office for the Trust for Public Land. Previously she served as Director of the Northern Forest Protection Fund for the Open Space Institute and as Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy Connecticut Chapter, where she led a successful campaign to secure $185 million in new state funding for conservation.

In addition, she was Director of Foundation Relations for the Natural Resources Defense Council for five years and was the Regional Director of the Connecticut River Watershed Council for six years, where she established and led a 5-town watershed protection effort.

Denise is a graduate of Middlebury College and received a Master’s Degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is a founder of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. Currently she sits on the board of the Norcross Wildlife Foundation.

posted 5/14/07