Episode 28: Jenny Hansell

Send us Fan MailJenny’s moxie is like a snowball that keeps getting bigger! She adds a bit more moxie with every opportunity and experience she encounters. She has worked to improve the lives of others in ways that use her skills and talents while also getting out of her comfort zone and building her own capacities as well as those of the organizations and communities she serves. Having amassed a wealth of knowledge and expertise, Jenny believes in sharing what she has learned with others to help them find their own version of moxie.Jenny is President of Berkshire Natural Resources Council, a county-wide land conservation organization in Western Massachusetts. Since joining the organization in 2018, Jenny has more than doubled the size of the staff to focus more broadly on strategic land conservation goals addressing climate resiliency, habitat protection, and public access; developed a new focus on farmland and ensuring farmers have access to affordable land; and worked to ensure that people from all backgrounds and abilities feel welcome and can enjoy and appreciate the Outdoors.In 2001, Jenny became the Executive Director at the North East Community Center based in Millerton, NY, and serving Eastern Dutchess County and nearby communities in Connecticut. She developed a small village-based organization into a county-wide leader in food security, youth development, and transportation.Before moving to Sharon, CT in 1998, she lived in New York City, where she spent nearly ten years at Creative Arts Workshops for Kids, a grassroots organization that provided holistic, long-term programs and care for homeless and formerly homeless children and their families in East Harlem. While there, Jenny raised funds, developed tutoring programs, conducted art workshops, mentored and trained volunteers, and eventually served as their Executive Director. In 1997 she moved to Sesame Workshop (creators of Sesame Street) where she developed parenting content for the website and helped design the user interface.Jenny’s career began at the National Audubon Society in New York; she then became the assistant director of the Council on the Environment of New York City (now known as GrowNYC), where she supported their initiatives in office waste reduction, community gardens, environmental education, and the well-known Greenmarket.She has served on many nonprofit boards; written theater, dance, and film reviews for regional publications; and is an accomplished painter of landscapes, portraits, and other subjects. Her work has been exhibited in the Berkshires and the Northampton, MA area.This episode is sponsored by Elyse Harney Real Estate and North East Ford.Support the show