John Kieley, Temple (President)
A native of southern New Hampshire, John holds a Bachelor’s degree from Norwich University and a Master’s degree from the University of Michigan’s Graduate School of Business Administration. A Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, he has spent his career in financial consulting in both Boston and New York. He retired in 2004 as an owner with Hewitt Associates, now an NYSE-listed company. John currently serves on several municipal and not-for-profit boards. John and his wife Connie own Temple Highlands, LLC, a conservation-based land investment company.
Carol Thompson, Jaffrey (Vice President)
After graduating from the University of Michigan, Carol entered a lifelong career in academic administration, working primarily at Princeton and Harvard Universities. Before her retirement, she held the position of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Harvard, where she was responsible for academic planning as well as all policies and practices relating to the faculty. For 3 years following her retirement from Arts and Sciences, she served part time as a Senior Adviser to the Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, where among her other responsibilities, she oversaw the Kennedy School’s successful bid for accreditation by the leading public policy organization. Carol is an avid birder and has a lifelong passion for outdoor life and land conservation, especially the Monadnock Region, where she has owned a home since 1992. She and her husband Dennis split their time between Jaffrey and Cambridge.
Betsey Harris, Dublin (Secretary)
Betsey and her husband John have owned property in Dublin/Jaffrey since 1961 and moved to Dublin in 1980. Since then, she has worked in land use and conservation with Dublin town boards, the Land and Community Investment Program (LCIP), the Southwest Region Planning Commission, and several other groups. Betsey was a founding trustee of the Conservancy and donated one of its earliest conservation easements. During the last 17 years, she has performed nearly every job in the organization, both on and off the board. In 2006, Betsey and John were recognized as Dublin’s Citizens of the Year.
Jennie Norman, Harrisville (Treasurer)
After graduating with honors from Dartmouth College, Jennie joined MARKEM Corporation for a 20-year career in marketing, operations, finance, IT, and general management, retiring in 2003 as Executive Vice President. Her executive education includes the Tuck School, Stanford, Wharton, and INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. Jennie currently serves as Vice Chairman of Tauck, Inc.; Trustee of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center; Chair of the Keene Family YMCA Board of Trustees; board member of Historic Harrisville; Dublin School Audit Committee member; and Corporator of Savings Bank of Walpole. Her former board service includes the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, the Monadnock United Way, the Monadnock Community Foundation, Cheshire Medical Center/Cheshire Health Foundation, Keene Health Alliance, and Keene Elm City Rotary.
Karen Bennett, Antrim
Karen is the UNH Cooperative Extension Specialist, providing education to private landowners, land managers, conservation volunteers, and public decision makers. Prior to this, she was the Hillsborough County and Merrimack County Forester. Karen has served on the NH Forester Licensing Board and the boards of NH Project Learning Tree and Beaver Brook Association.
Jack Calhoun, Harrisville
Jack received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UNH and a Master’s of Business Administration from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at UNH. He has over 25 years of management and consulting experience, working with federal, state, and local governments and agencies. As a Project Director at the Antioch New England Institute, Jack directs the NH Selectmen’s Institute and is the Assistant to the President for Community Relations. A lifelong resident of the Monadnock Region, Jack served 15 years on the Harrisville Planning Board, retiring after 7 years as chair. He previously served as Executive Director of the NH Lakes Association and has been on numerous municipal and non-profit boards.
Tom Duston, Chesterfield
Tom has a Doctorate in Economics from Brown University and is a retiring faculty member from Keene State College. His current research interest is in the economics of open space protection, and he is working on a related book, Is There Space for Open Space? A previous book discussed the economics of recycling. Tom is also currently serving as Chair of the Chesterfield Conservation Commission. He and his wife Paula, a faculty member at UMass/Amherst, have a large immediate and extended family spread all over New England.
Tom Hanna, Westmoreland
After graduating from Dartmouth College (where he played center field for the baseball team that went to the College World Series), Tom began his career as a newspaper reporter. He then attended Boston College Law School and has practiced law in Keene for nearly three decades, concentrating his practice in the area of land use. He has represented several landowners who have donated conservation easements, which he has done himself on his woodlot in Chesterfield. Tom is a past member of the Board of Governors of the NH Bar Association and of the Supreme Court Professional Conduct Committee. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Monadnock United Way, was a ten-year member of the Westmoreland Planning Board, and serving his second stint on the Conservancy's Board of Trustees. He is an avid hiker, tennis player, and local baseball historian. Tom and his wife, Elke, have three sons.
Michael Krinsky, Marlborough
Mike is president of The Mountain Corporation, a socially responsible and environmentally friendly wholesale T-shirt manufacturing company. He and his wife Jenny have lived in New Hampshire for over 30 years and in Marlborough for 25. Instrumental in land protection issues in Marlborough, Mike chaired the Zoning Board of Adjustment for several years and the Conservation Commission for about 15 years. He currently chairs the Open Space Committee and, additionally, is a trustee with The Nature Conservancy, New Hampshire Chapter.
Mary Louise Montgomery, Walpole
Mary Lou comes to the board of the Monadnock Conservancy with extensive prior board experience. A former long-term resident of Cape Cod, she was an experienced volunteer in both community and governmental activities, as well as an administrator of Woods Hole environmental research organizations. After completing graduate studies in non-profit management, she spent several decades in leadership roles with local and regional foundations. She still actively serves as a member of the Board of the Woods Hole Research Center. , having aided several non-profits and foundations particularly with her development and grant-writing xpertise. She also serves as a trustee on the board of the Woods Hole Research Center. Mary Lou and her husband Charles have recently moved to the family farm in Walpole, a place beloved and cared for by several preceding generations. Since transferring loyalties to New Hampshire, she also has become involved with the Walpole Conservation Committee Task Force, the Walpole Historical Society, and the Yellow Barn Chamber Festival.
Tom Mullins, Greenfield
A partner in the law firm of Tower, Crocker & Mullins, Tom graduated from Northeastern University Law School in Boston. His areas of practice include municipal law, zoning and planning law, and employment law. Tom is actively involved in several community and non-profit organizations, including the Southwest Region Planning Commission, the Contoocook Housing Trust, and the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation.
Richard Pendleton, Peterborough
Richard holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geosciences from Hobart College and a Master of Science in Hydrology from the University of New Hampshire. He has worked in environmental consulting – including soil and groundwater assessments and cleanups – since 1987. He started Eastview Environmental, Consulting & Field Services of Peterborough in 1997 to serve private, commercial, and municipal clients in southern New Hampshire and Vermont. He holds New Hampshire Professional Geologist License No. 58. Richard is a former member of both the Peterborough Conservation Commission, where he worked extensively on conservation easement monitoring projects, and the Water Resources Advisory Committee. He led the updating of Peterborough’s aquifer zoning. He is a founding partner of Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm residential community, the first co-housing project in New Hampshire. He enjoys exploring the Monadnock region’s open spaces by foot, ski, snowshoe, canoe, and bike with his wife and daughters.
Sheldon Pennoyer, Greenfield
Sheldon received his architectural degree from Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied architecture and landscape architecture. After working in the studio of one of his professors, he co-founded OPA (O’Neil Pennoyer Architects), where he helped implement the firm’s current practice of integrated design. He strengthened that commitment by becoming a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional in 2004. Currently living on a farm in Greenfield, Sheldon has served on the Greenfield Planning Board and designed several community buildings for the town.
Diane Schott, Fitzwilliam
A long-time resident of the Monadnock Region, Diane has always been active on inland conservation issues and interested in the intersection of conservation and land use planning: serving as a trustee for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and on her second tour of duty on the Conservancy board. Currently, she serves on the Fitzwilliam Planning Board; previously, she was a member of the Jaffrey Planning Board for 25 years, 9 of those years as Chair. Prior board service includes serving on and chairing the NH Charitable Foundation Monadnock Region and the Sharon Arts Center. She and her husband John also own and manage a 350-acre tree farm in Francestown.
Suzanne Whittemore, Swanzey
A native of the Keene area, Suzanne recently retired from Keene State College after more than 18 years in technical services and project management. She received her B.A. in History from Keene State, and, during the completion of her degree work, she wrote and published an historic guide to Cheshire County, In the Shadow of Monadnock. Suzanne is also a graduate of the HERS Leadership Program at Wellesley College and the Monadnock Leadership Program. In the early 1990s, she served as chair of the Land Conservation Investment Program Swanzey Task Force, which successfully preserved four important Swanzey properties. She has served on the Swanzey Open Space Advisory Committee (a model for other towns developing open space plans), Swanzey Open Space Committee, as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Historical Society of Cheshire County, Swanzey BikePed Committee, HHCS Hospice volunteer, and a variety of on-campus and professional committees and organizations.
Board of trustees and staff 1st row: Mary Lou Montgomery, Jennie Norman, Carol Thompson, Suzanne Whittemore, Jack Calhous, Diane Schott, Emily Hague, Tom Mullins, Roberta Bell; 2nd row: Betsey Harris, Karen Bennett, Dee Robbins, Tom Duston; 3rd row: Dick Ober, Tom Hanna, Sheldon Pennoyer, Ryan Owens. Missing from photo: Mike Krinsky and Richard Pendleton, trustees, and Pete Throop.
