Karen Grey loves coffee in the morning, her three sons, and exercising outdoors -- she might even cautiously admit that the dreaded “g-word” (golf) is a favorite pastime, but only if you ask her directly! She comes to work each day for the connections she sees as cornerstones to everything she does. To her, building Wildlands’ portfolio to be the largest land trust in Southeastern Massachusetts has not been about the number of acres that can be counted, but rather the number of lives that have been impacted, dreams fulfilled. An ideal day of work, for her, is full of back-to-back appointments in the field, strategizing ways to help landowners and partners achieve their goals, while simultaneously enjoying the land and time outdoors. Having followed a non-linear path that led her away from what started as a career in construction litigation to the more personally meaningful setting of a land conservation organization, Karen is truly a manager at heart. She is invested in the well-being of her staff and continuously works to bring out the best in others. Karen believes that land conservation is essentially a community service business, and that relationships--among staff, board, land owners, communities, and other organizations--are critical for success. In Karen’s words, she will have achieved success in this field if she leaves Wildlands a “stable, well-resourced organization, able to fulfill its obligations of caring for all the lands we’ve protected.”
Karen has served as the President and Executive Director of Wildlands Trust since 2007. Under her leadership, Wildlands Trust has significantly grown its protected land portfolio, operating budget, endowment, staff, and programming. Karen's vision and execution led to the creation of Davis-Douglas Farm, a transformational project that resulted in a beautiful new educational facility and headquarters for Wildlands, and the protection of this historic Plymouth landmark. Beyond her role at Wildlands, Karen is committed to the community, and serves as the vice president of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, vice president of the South Shore Economic Development Council, and a board member of Historic O'Neil Farm in Duxbury. She began her conservation career at the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. There, she held several management positions during her 17-year tenure, including chief operating officer, director of marketing and development, and assistant director. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont, and lives in Duxbury with her family.
