Ed McMahon and Jared Duval Join Foundation Board, Rebecca Sanborn Stone Rejoins Staff in Middlebury Office

Middlebury, VT — The Orton Family Foundation announced the appointment of two new trustees and a senior associate, all of whom will help the Foundation strengthen its Heart & Soul Community Planning initiative and reach out to new communities.

Ed McMahon, a nationally renowned expert on sustainable development, land conservation, and urban design, and Jared Duval, one of the environmental movement’s youngest leaders, joined the Board of Trustees this summer. Rebecca Sanborn Stone, formerly a Program Associate with the Foundation, rejoined the staff in the Middlebury office as Senior Associate for Communications.

“I am excited about Ed and Jared joining the Board. Ed’s experiences with Scenic America, The Conservation Fund and now the Urban Land Institute will take the Foundation's work to a new level of national prominence and Jared will bring the insights and aspirations of his generation to our thinking,” said Foundation President and CEO William Roper.

Ed McMahon’s years of experience helping communities and organizations build innovative partnerships, develop creative solutions to land use issues, and bridge the divide between economy and environment will advance the Foundation’s mission and goals at the national level. “Not only does Ed McMahon bring a depth of national experience and wisdom to our Board,” said Foundation Founder and Board Chair Lyman Orton, “but his agreement to join us validates the Heart & Soul Community Planning vision that the Foundation is committed to developing.” Ed is currently a Senior Resident Fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C., where he holds the Charles Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development. Ed spent fourteen years at The Conservation Fund serving as Vice President and Director of Land Use Programs. He was also the first President of the non-profit Scenic America and taught law and public policy at Georgetown University Law Center for nine years.

“A lot of organizations are working on sustainable economic development, but the Orton Family Foundation is the only one focused on bottom-up, values-based, citizen-driven planning,” McMahon said, “In my experience this is the only approach that will produce places that will endure and communities that people will cherish.”

Ed is a frequent lecturer and a prolific author with 15 major publications and more than 150 articles to his credit, including Green Infrastructure: Connecting Landscapes and Communities (Island Press, 2006), Land Conservation Financing (Island Press, 2003) and Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities (Island Press, 1997). He has also drafted numerous local land use plans and ordinances and led efforts across the country to acquire and protect urban parkland, wilderness areas, and conservation properties. Ed has an M.A. in Urban Studies from the University of Alabama and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School.

Jared Duval represents the next generation in the environmental and community development movements, having already served in national and international leadership positions at the age of 24. “Jared is a fifth generation Vermonter who has launched onto the national scene as a leader of the 20-something generation,” said Orton, “He brings the excitement and perspective of that group to the Foundation, filling a critical piece of our strategy.”

Jared has served as the National Director of the Sierra Student Coalition, the largest student environmental group in the country. As Director, he conceived and fundraised for the “Climate Summer” campaign that employed thirty students across Iowa and New Hampshire and galvanized more than 10,000 citizens to help build a clean energy economy. Jared is now a Senior Fellow with ecoAmerica, a non-profit organization that convenes partners to help bring environmental efforts to mainstream America. “As we confront the challenges of the 21st century, our greatest strength comes from community and a collaborative approach to solving problems - values that the Orton Family Foundation has put into action since its founding,” Duval said, “I am excited and honored to join the Board to help continue and expand this important work for the next generation.”

Jared is also a member of the World Future Council and was the youngest member of Howard Dean’s policy team during the 2004 Presidential primary. Jared’s career in activism began while he was a high school student in Vermont; he led a successful campaign to save the Great Hollow Wetlands near his home from a construction project, for which he was honored with the David Brower Award. Jared graduated from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and he is the author of the forthcoming book, Keeping Our Promise. “Jared is a fifth generation Vermonter who has launched onto the national scene as a leader of the 20-something generation,” said Orton, “He brings the excitement and perspective of that group to the Foundation, filling a critical piece of our strategy.”

Rebecca Sanborn Stone has rejoined the Foundation as Senior Associate for Communications, bringing to the staff a diverse background in science, conservation, writing, and education. She previously worked as a Program Associate in the Foundation’s Manchester, VT office. In the interim, she remained involved with the Foundation as a consultant while working as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and as an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Science & Technology at Southern Vermont College. Prior to joining the Foundation, Rebecca earned a B.A in biology and English from Williams College and a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she was a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow and worked with the Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry. She began her career as a high school teacher, dorm parent, and coach, working in the Science Department of Vermont Academy and the English Department of the Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School. She has written on environmental issues for numerous publications, including E Magazine and Northern Woodlands.

The Orton Family Foundation, based in Middlebury, VT, and Denver, CO, serves cities and towns under 50,000 population in the Northeast and Rocky Mountain regions. It was created in 1995 by Lyman Orton, owner of the Vermont Country Store, and is supported with profits from the Store.

For More Information Contact:

John Barstow, Director of Communications
The Orton Family Foundation
PO Box 111
Middlebury, VT 05753
802.388.6336
communications@orton.org
www.orton.org