Jenny Hansell
President
Jenny Hansell came to BNRC in February 2018 as its third President. Prior to that, she was Executive Director of the North East Community Center in Dutchess County, NY for 17 years. She has worked as an Environmental Policy Analyst at the National Audubon Society and Associate Director of the Council on the Environment of New York City, and held positions at Creative Art Works and Sesame Workshop, both in New York.
Joined Board of Directors in 2018.
Timothy T. Crane
Chairman
Tim Crane has been a member of BNRC’s board for 22 years, and is serving his second term as Chairman of BNRC’s board. Tim is now retired after a career at Crane & Co. He and his wife, the poet Patty Crane, live in Windsor and have linked conservation easements on their property into the vast state-owned wildlife management properties on the Berkshire plateau.
Joined Board of Directors in 2000.
Patricia Callahan
Vice Chairman
Pat Callahan retired some years ago after a career in banking in California. She lives in Richmond and serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Berkshire United Way, and is on the Town of Richmond Finance Committee
Joined Board of Directors in 2017.
Jeffrey Belair
Treasurer
Jeffrey Belair is a CPA and partner in the firm of Smith, Watson & Company, LLP based in Pittsfield, MA. He has more than 15 years of experience advising affluent individuals and their families manage the numerous aspects of wealth accumulation and transfer. Jeff assists clients with complex individual tax compliance and strategy, philanthropic planning, and trust and estate design.
Joined Board of Directors in 2019.
Kim Seward
Secretary
Kim Seward is a freelance writer, working primarily with medical product and higher ed software companies. She also writes nature-based children’s books. She and her husband are avid amateur naturalists and enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing, raising caterpillars to release as butterflies, and creating and enhancing habitat on their North Adams property.
Joined Board of Directors in 2017.
Stephen Alsdorf
Member
Stephen Alsdorf is a family physician. His preferred prescription is time outdoors. Prior to medical school, he lived in France and Japan for several years and loves travel and foreign languages. An avid trail runner, biker and skier, he lives in Lenox with his wife and two daughters.
Joined Board of Directors in 2019.
Heather Bruegl
Member
Heather Bruegl, an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and a first line descendant Stockbridge-Munsee, is a historian who has been an active lecturer on Native history for years. She serves on the Educators and Interpreters Committee of the American Association for State and Local History, and is the Director of Education with the Forge Project Fellowship Program. Heather lives in Columbia County, New York.
Joined Board of Directors in 2021.
Thomas A. Curtin
Member
Tom Curtin practiced as an attorney in Boston before moving to the Berkshires in 1993. He is today an independent financial advisor. In addition to his service to BNRC, he served as treasurer of Project Native, and is currently treasurer of Berkshire Grown.
Joined Board of Directors in 2011.
Brian Fairbank
Member
Brian Fairbank, member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, is Chairman of The Fairbank Group, a company that operates ski resorts in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont—including Jiminy Peak in the Berkshires. Brian has also been recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the National Ski Areas Association. He is known for leadership with regard to sustainability and green energy within the ski industry.
Joined Board of Directors in 2020.
Henry A. Flint
Member
Henry Flint sits on the Conservation Commission for the Town of Alford and owns Scribner Brook Farm, a 170-acre farm protected with an Agricultural Preservation Restriction. He is president of the Alford Land Trust.
Joined Board of Directors in 2006.
Rachel Hailey
Member
Rachel is the Owner/Transformationalist at DEI Outdoors, a firm which deals directly with the outdoor industry to foster DEI in organizations. Her main objective is to transform the outdoors into a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible space. Rachel is committed to creating an industry where anyone can experience, thrive, and lead in the out of doors. Rachel is also a speaker and published author. She can often be found seeking magical creatures in the woods with her daughter and German Shepherd.
Joined Board of Directors in 2023.
Ellen Hand
Member
Ellen Hand has family roots in the Berkshires and divides her time between Lenox and Brooklyn. She is particularly interested in protecting farms, wetlands, and open fields—the latter because they provide an especially good introduction to nature for those who have grown up in a more urban setting and may not be immediately comfortable in the woods. Helping establish wildlife corridors between conservation lands is also of great importance to Ellen.
Joined Board of Directors in 2010.
Caroline Holland
Member
Carrie Holland is the Managing Director of Mill Town, an impact investment fund focused on the Berkshires. Prior to returning to the Berkshires, she lived in the Washington D.C. area working in the National Security field. Carrie also serves on the boards of Hancock Shaker Village, Barrington Stage Company, and Boston Symphony Orchestra. A former Division I soccer player, Carrie particularly enjoys the accessibility of outdoor sports as a returned-native to the Berkshires.
Joined Board of Directors in 2019.
Brian Horan
Member
Brian Horan is an attorney at Cain Hibbard & Myers, where he counsels and represents clients in high-stakes legal disputes in areas including real estate, health care, construction, and insurance. Brian previously devoted more than a decade to public service at the New York City Office of the Corporation Counsel. Brian was recognized by the New York Law Journal as a 40-under-40 “Rising Star.” He received his BA from Columbia University and his JD from NYU School of Law, where he was an editor of the NYU Environmental Law Journal. Brian lives in Great Barrington with his wife and their two children.
Joined the Board of Directors in 2023.
Eric Katzman
Member
Eric Katzman, the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Rockingstone Advisors, has enjoyed a multi-decade career on Wall Street, and is recognized as an expert in consumer-packaged goods. He received his MBA in Finance from New York University and his BA in Economics and Government from Oberlin College. Eric is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Oberlin College as well as on the school’s Endowment Investment Committee. Previously he was a member of the NY State Board of The Nature Conservancy.
Joined Board of Directors in 2020.
Larry Lane
Member
Larry Lane is a Berkshire County native who owned and operated the Arcadian Shop in Lenox for over 46 years. He is an avid hiker, runner and cross-country skier who is committed to conserving land for the enjoyment of the public.
Joined Board of Directors in 2005.
Tim Lovett
Member
Tim Lovett is the co-founder of Berkshire Property Agents, a real estate agency in Great Barrington. He attended Lee High School and spent much of his youth on Otis Reservoir, kindling a lifelong passion for the Berkshire Hills. After an advertising career in NYC, Europe and Tokyo, he settled on Lake Garfield in Monterey and built the agency to help others find their dream homes in the Berkshires.
Joined Board of Directors in 2014.
John Mancia
Member
John Mancia has recently retired from a long career in publishing including 30 years’ senior management experience with Elsevier, the largest international science and medical publisher. He and his wife Linda split their time between West Stockbridge and New York and have a long tradition of working with local nonprofits as active volunteers and board members.
Joined Board of Directors in 2018.
Karen Ross
Member
Karen Ross grew up in Pittsfield and has volunteered with BNRC since 2001. She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from SUNY/Albany and has taught high school English and Computer Science at Berkshire Community College. Karen is also a director of the Columbia Land Conservancy. She and her husband Jeff have conserved their 170-acre farm in Lebanon Springs on the western flank of the Taconic Mountains where they manage their fields for both hay and birds. She is an avid skier, biker, and hiker in the Berkshires and beyond.
Joined Board of Directors in 2014.
Brian Tobin
Member
Brian Tobin lives in Mount Washington, where he serves on the Board of Selectmen and as the Acting Chief of Police. He is an executive coach and former Chairman of the Board of the Railroad Street Youth Project.
Joined Board of Directors in 2010.