Executive Spotlight: Jenny Hansell, executive director, Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Tony Dobrowolski, The Berkshire Eagle
DATE: September 18, 2020
PITTSFIELD — Jenny Hansell grew up in a big city in the Midwest where being close to nature was more of a myth than a reality. But, she always could pretend. Hansell remembers sitting in her backyard imagining that she was in a field near a lake or by a mountain.
Those youthful daydreams became more concrete as Hansell got older. She had worked for several conservation organizations before becoming executive director of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, a land conservancy organization, in 2018. Hansell is the first person from outside the organization to head the BNRC since the nonprofit was formed in 1967, succeeding original president/co-founder George Wislocki and, more recently, Tad Ames.