Board Members

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.

Chair

Syd Smithers was for fifty-two years a Berkshire County dirt (real estate) lawyer, now retired. He was previously a BNRC Board member for 10 years and is pleased to be re-joining the team. Syd was also a board member for the Trustees of Reservations for 12 years, serving as Chair of their board for six years. Now, with wife Mundi, he resides of Vermont and is available for travel assignments.

Vice Chair

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.

Treasurer

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.

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.

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.

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.

Following a career in finance and operations with for-profits, as well as with non-profits in the visual and performing arts, Bob settled in Lenox with his husband Dan. He received a BS from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, and currently serves on the board of Kids in Need of Defense and on The Nature Conservancy’s NY State Leadership Council. He is particularly interested in wetlands and in protecting wildlife habitat and migration corridors. 

Steve previously worked to expand renewable energy businesses in developing countries. For the last 15 years, he has run a small-scale vegetable farm in New Marlborough and sold his USDA-certified organic vegetables at local farmers’ markets and to local restaurants. More recently, he sells all of his produce to a non-profit for distribution to local food pantries in the southern Berkshires. He was a Peace Corp volunteer in the Dominican Republic and has been a board member or volunteer for varied organizations throughout his life.

Luke Delorme, CFP®, ChFC, is the Director of Financial Planning at Tableaux Wealth in Stockbridge. Luke received a BA in economics and an MBA with a focus in asset management from Boston College. Luke was born and raised in Burlington VT. He currently spends as much time as he can running, biking, and hiking with his wife and two daughters.

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.

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.

Carrie Holland is the Executive Director of Hancock Shaker Village. 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 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 is a litigation attorney at Horan Law LLC in Pittsfield, where he represents clients in commercial, land use, and other types of disputes. 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.

John Lewis is the founder and CEO of R3SET Enterprises, working to pioneer equitable resource distribution models for disenfranchised communities and revolutionizing the way commerce, governance, and social equity intersect. John is also the cofounder of the Berkshire Black Economic Council, Blackshires Community Empowerment Foundation, and the Blackshires Leadership Accelerator Program. He has served on boards across the count including EforAll, Barrington Stage Company, and BerkShares. 

W. Scott Rogers is an economist with over 30 years of experience, including more than 20 years at the International Monetary Fund where he served as mission chief to Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cape Verde, Burundi, and Eritrea. Scott is currently chair of the Finance Committee for the town of Windsor and served on the board of Volunteers in Medicine.

Karen Ross is a fifth generation native of Pittsfield and has volunteered with BNRC since 2001. She holds a PhD in higher education administration from SUNY/Albany and has taught high school English and computer science at Berkshire Community College. She and her husband Jeff have conserved their 190-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.

Elena is a tenured professor of environmental studies at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. She and her husband live in North Adams with their young sons. She began her environmental career as a BNRC Rice Fellow in 2001 and earned her PhD in 2011.

Ari has over 25 years of experience as a small business owner and is the first Black cannabis license holder in the Berkshires. He is the Vice President and Founder of Friends of Smiley’s Pond, Blackshires Community Empowerment, and serves on the board of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team. Ari also serves as Vice Chair of the DuBois Sculpture Project, Assistant Land Steward for the Egremont Land Trust, and was co-founder of the Sessions Youth Empowerment Program.