The Board of Trustees of the Newfound Lake Region Association announces its selection of its new executive director Rebecca K. Hanson of Plymouth, NH who will immediately begin transitioning into the position and will assume her leadership role in October, taking the mantle of the watershed protection organization as it enters into the next era of its strategic and progressive work to protect Newfound.
Board of Trustees President Rob Moore imparted the importance of this decision, “This is a transformative time in the organization’s history, as the NLRA has recently completed some of the most progressive, forward-thinking years of growth and positive impact on the health of the Newfound watershed under the executive directorship of Boyd Smith. We are delighted to welcome Rebecca from her current position of Director of Conservation at the Squam Lakes Association to take the staff leadership helm as the NLRA builds an organizational bridge to the next era of success.”
Hanson brings strong organizational management and communication skills to the job and is adept at watershed management and land conservation. Growing up in Holderness and attending Holderness School, she attended the University of New Hampshire before receiving her master’s in Environmental Science and Policy from Plymouth State University.
Moore continues, “We’ve had a solid run of impactful years under outgoing executive Boyd Smith, and we are delighted that many key philanthropists have celebrated his tenure through establishing an endowment fund in his name. This will be a fitting transition, as our entire board is excited about what Rebecca brings to this position, including her ability to understand the science, the nuanced relationships throughout New Hampshire, and the pathway forward to sustain and build upon the powerful impact we’ve all accomplished. We thank Boyd for helping us build NLRA into to what it is today and celebrate his leadership, and we are so excited by our possibilities for the future with Rebecca in that role.”
Rebecca Hanson’s accomplishments at Squam Lakes Association have included starting an internship initiative that evolved into a region-wide AmeriCorps program, assuming a lead role in updating the Squam Watershed Plan, which addresses new threats to Squam watershed, and effectively managing grant funding from the NH Department of Environmental Services and many other agencies and granting entities. She has served on the Town of Plymouth’s Planning Board since 2014, serving as its chair since 2017.
NLRA leadership appointed a Transition Team, under the leadership of trustee Val Scarborough, who also chaired the Search Committee, to guide the new executive director through a successful on-boarding process. Scarborough notes, “Newfound’s clean water and forested landscape have long been part of our collective memories, and as we work together to help make Rebecca’s transition a successful one, we’ll all have that bigger picture in mind. No doubt, working together with our new executive director, we will most certainly leave this lasting legacy to our next generation.”
The Board of Trustees expects the NLRA to continue its leadership in watershed protection and remain one of New Hampshire’s foremost environmental conservation, education, and clean-water advocacy organizations.