JACKSON HOLE, WYO – Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance today welcomed new board members and officers.
The four new members of the Alliance board include Brad Nielson, Danielle Shapiro, Michael Stern, and Juliet Unfried.
Brad Nielson grew up in the Rocky Mountain region. He studied at the University of Utah College of Law and spent his career in various legal roles with major energy companies, including many years abroad. He recently retired from his role as General Counsel at Royal Dutch Shell, and is now involved in protecting natural resources as a board member of several environmental nonprofits.
Nielson recently served on the Snow King stakeholder group and has been involved with the Jackson Hole Clean Water Coalition as a board member of the Friends of Fish Creek.
Danielle Shapiro comes to the Alliance with experience as a journalist, writer, and editor focused on human rights and social justice issues. Originally from Chicago, she attended Brown University and first moved to Jackson Hole to become a ski instructor. She then headed to London to pursue a master’s in human rights law, and later to New York for the Columbia University School of Journalism.
Shapiro kept returning to Jackson after each chapter, and has now made it home for herself and her young daughter.
“I live here because of how incredibly beautiful and unique this place is. I believe that we not only need to protect the preciousness of this area by protecting its wild places and wildlife, but also by insuring this is a strong and growing community for the people that live here,” she said.
Michael Stern is a native New Yorker with expertise in planning, urban design, and landscape design. He holds a bachelors in Anthropology from Grinnell College and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard School of Design. Although he spent much of his career leading planning efforts for Eastern cities, Stern was drawn to the wild character of Jackson Hole.
Stern lived in the area in the 1970-80s as a NOLS instructor and gained some first ascents on the West Face of the Grand Teton.
“We have a microcosm of the global challenge here: preserve the character of the place while making it a great place for us to live,” he said.
Juliet Unfried’s connection with Jackson Hole began with her family’s first stay at Trail Creek Ranch when she was six, and she is happy to be back in the valley full-time.
“As residents of Jackson Hole, we need to protect the wildlife and wild places that attracted us to the area and nurture the community character that made us want to stay. I want to help the community grow with intention and integrity. I cannot think of a better way to protect the place I love and the things I love about it than supporting the Alliance,” she said.
Unfried comes to the Alliance with a B.A. from Wellesley College in psychology, a M.A. from Columbia University in social-organizational psychology, a certification in sustainable entrepreneurship, and a coaching certification. Her work focuses on helping leaders and teams develop new awareness in service of achieving their professional goals more effectively.
Board officer changes include Tim O’Donoghue stepping up to the role of board chair. He said he is “looking forward to making a greater contribution to the success of the Alliance by empowering board members, staff, and our members to protect and sustain the qualities that inspire us to live here, and people from all over the world to visit—the integrity of our wild lands, wildlife, and community character.”
Kirk Davenport is the board’s new vice chair.
“The Alliance can be a constructive voice in the ongoing conversation about how to balance our urge to grow and our desire to live in balance with the wildlife we love in a community we love,” Davenport said. “I am thrilled to be part of the team that has been helping our valley get this right for the last 39 years.”
David Sollitt will continue as secretary and Alex Kastor is staying on as treasurer.
Current board of directors at the Alliance:
Timothy O’Donoghue – Chair
Kirk Davenport – Vice Chair
Alex Kastor – Treasurer
Dave Sollitt – Secretary
Brad Nielson
Bruce Hawtin
Dan Smitherman
Danielle Shapiro
David Hardie
Juliet Unfried
Michael Stern
Mike May
