FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kingston Land Trust Announcement
July 19, 2010
Kingston Land Trust Names Rebecca Martin Executive Director
The Kingston Land Trust named community leader and board member Rebecca Martin executive director of the Kingston, N.Y.-based non-profit, effective immediately. Martin has stepped down from the board of directors of the trust and replaces Arthur Zaczkiewicz , who had served as interim executive director. Zaczkiewicz continues to work as the co-chair of the garden committee.
“As the Kingston Land Trust enters the next phase of its development, I can’t think of anyone better to lead, manage and organize the Kingston Land Trust than Rebecca Martin,” said Steve Noble, chairman and co-founder of the trust.
“Kingston has a rich inventory of public and open space, and it has immense potential in regard to connecting people to the outdoors,” Martin said. “So, I believe the Kingston Land Trust – which is an urban land trust – is well positioned to create exciting educational programs, work to preserve open space, and to continue its leadership role with community gardens. As executive director, I want to help residents rediscover Kingston’s uniqueness as an urban community set in a rural region.”
“Rebecca is an exceptional leader who possesses top-notch organizational skills, which will help take the Kingston Land Trust to its next level of growth,” said Zaczkiewicz, co-founder of the trust.
Martin’s duties will include, but not be limited to: creating a strategy to organize and build a support base for the trust of volunteers and donors; develop, update and enhance the trust’s website; develop a strategic plan for fundraising; and focus on public outreach as well as the trust’s mission.
Some of the Kingston Land Trust’s activities include: leading the creation of community gardens; installing an organic Victory Garden at Kingston City Hall; offering free seedlings to the community, which were grown by city youth; holding a Kingston Ward 9 visioning session as a way to re-imagine a portion of Broadway as a vibrant, sustainable community; launching a city-wide Victory Gardens program; helping feed hungry people via the creation of partnership that culled meat from a whitetail deer management program in the Shawangunks; working with other non profits and governmental agencies on open space planning, environmental and historic preservation matters in Kingston and the Town of Ulster; and helping organize a city-wide community garden coalition and regional school gardens. Noble and Zaczkiewicz both previously served as interim executive directors. The trust is a recognized 501c3 non-profit and is incorporated in New York State.
For more information or to interview Rebecca Martin or Steve Noble, contact the Kingston Land Trust at 845.877.5263 845.877.5263 or kingstonlandtrust@gmail.com.
About Rebecca Martin:
Rebecca Martin hails from the state of Maine, but now resides and raises her family in the City of Kingston since 2002. A professional musician, Rebecca has made seven critically acclaimed albums (currently signed to Sunnyside Records in New York City) and has performed internationally as well as in the U.S. at notable venues that include Carnegie Hall and The Village Vanguard. As a manager, Rebecca held positions at MTV Networks for many years prior to starting her own production company. As a community leader, she is founder of KingstonCitizens.org, an initiative that encourages civic responsibility and government transparency and accountability. Her recent endeavor, The Kingston Victory Garden Project, produced an organic garden at Kingston City Hall that was launched on Earth Day, 2009. Rebecca was the former chair of the garden committee through the Kingston Land Trust as well as a board member.
About the Kingston Land Trust:
The Kingston Land Trust is a 501c3 non-profit organization committed to the protection and preservation of open space, historic sites, wetlands, scenic areas, and forests in the City of Kingston and the surrounding region to include the Town of Ulster and the Town of Kingston.
The Mission of the Kingston Land Trust:
* Protect and preserve open space * Identify, acquire, hold, and manage, real property as well as employ conservation easements to real property in and around Kingston, N.Y.
* Work with local, state and federal agencies, municipalities and businesses in preserving, protecting and conserving open space, scenic areas, wetlands and historic sites in and around Kingston, N.Y.
* Work with community groups, schools, other non-profits and individuals to bolster the level of appreciation for open space and natural resources as well as the need for conservation efforts.
* Develop educational and outreach programs with the community that relate to the preservation of open space
* Help form and work with community groups involved in community gardens, preservation of parklands and recycling efforts in and around Kingston, N.Y.
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