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Pound Ridge's Churchill Named Chairman Of Westchester Land Trust

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. – Bruce Churchill knows he has big shoes to fill, but the Pound Ridge resident says he is ready, willing and able to step into a new role with the Westchester Land Trust.

Pound Ridge's Bruce Churchill, recently retired after 30 years in the media industry, has been tapped to lead the Westchester Land Trust.

Pound Ridge's Bruce Churchill, recently retired after 30 years in the media industry, has been tapped to lead the Westchester Land Trust.

Photo Credit: Contributed
The new members of Westchester Land Trust's board of directors are: Bruce Churchill, Beth Crowell, Joe Edgar and  Marjorie Kaufman. Ron Burke is on the advisory board.

The new members of Westchester Land Trust's board of directors are: Bruce Churchill, Beth Crowell, Joe Edgar and Marjorie Kaufman. Ron Burke is on the advisory board.

Photo Credit: Contributed

Churchill, who recently retired after 30 years in the media industry, has been tapped as chairman of WLT’s board of directors. He has been on the board for three years.

The Bedford Hills-based regional land conservation organization operates in Westchester and eastern Putnam counties.

Churchill will replace Jonathan Wiesner, who is standing down after, the organization said, “serving five eventful and productive years” as chairman.

During Wiesner’s tenure, WLT has grown both in “reach and influence,” it said.

Specifically, it completed 24 conservation projects, protecting 735 acres of land.

The accredited and professionally staffed group also scored an important conservation victory when it won state funding to protect Stuart’s Fruit Farm in Somers -- the oldest working farm in Westchester.

Wiesner will now co-lead WLT’s advisory board, which is made up of local experts who act as community liaisons.

Wiesner is CEO of Sustainable Apparel Group, LLC and chairman emeritus of the International Rescue Committee.

Churchill, who admitted Wiesner’s act will be hard to follow, said he was glad that the former chairman will still be around to advise WLT.

The chairmanship is not the only change the organization is undergoing; Mount Kisco resident Jerry Goldstein, who has served on the board of directors for more than 20 years, is also moving to a spot on the advisory board.

The trust awelcomed three new members to the board of directors: Joe Edgar and Beth Crowell, both of Bedford, and Mamaroneck resident Marjorie Kaufman. Ron Burke, of Stamford, Conn., has been added to the advisory board.

WLT president Lori Ensinger praised all four for lending their “time, talents and geographic diversity” to support a mission “that is as important now as it has ever been.”

Wiesner praised Churchill, saying his “wealth of business, financial and strategic experience” will ensure WLT’s future success.

“He is a terrific person to lead our organization,” Wiesner added.

Here’s sa bit  background on these folks:

  • Churchill had executive roles at Paramount Pictures, Fox Television, STAR TV in Hong Kong, and DIRECTV in both the United States and in Latin America. He is on the board of Computer Sciences Corp., an IT services company.
  • Crowell, an interior designer with a degree in art history, was as co-chair of WLT’s 2016 annual benefit. She has also helped promote its outreach programs. She is an advisor for the renovations at Rippowam Cisqua School in Bedford.
  • Edgar, who joined WLT’s advisory board last year, is managing director and corporate counsel for the Pataki Cahill Group, a specialized development firm founded by former former New York Gov. George E. Pataki and John P. Cahill. He has a private law practice and is co-founder of H2envirO, a water disinfection technology provider.
  • Kaufman has more than 30 years of experience in the investment management and investment banking industries. She is the senior consulting principal with NexTier Companies and has held leadership roles at Guggenheim Global Trading, Kingdon Capital, J. & W. Seligman, and Towneley Capital Management.
  • Burke, an environmental risk management leader, has had a 30-year career in environmental law with GE Capital and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. He will use his background in environmental law to aid WLT’s land acquisition committee.

For more about the trust, click here.

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