Board Members

President

Jenny Hansell came to BNRC in February 2018 as its third President. Prior to that, she was Executive Director of the North East Community Center in Dutchess County, NY for 17 years. She has worked as an Environmental Policy Analyst at the National Audubon Society and Associate Director of the Council on the Environment of New York City, and held positions at Creative Art Works and Sesame Workshop, both in New York.
Joined Board of Directors in 2018.

Chair

Tim Crane has been a member of BNRC’s board for 22 years, and is serving his second term as Chairman of BNRC’s board. Tim is now retired after a career at Crane & Co. He and his wife, the poet Patty Crane, live in Windsor and have linked conservation easements on their property into the vast state-owned wildlife management properties on the Berkshire plateau. Joined Board of Directors in 2000.

Vice Chair

Pat Callahan retired some years ago after a career in banking in California. She lives in Richmond and serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Berkshire United Way, and is on the Town of Richmond Finance Committee Joined Board of Directors in 2017.

Treasurer

Jeffrey Belair is a CPA and partner in the firm of Smith, Watson & Company, LLP based in Pittsfield, MA. He has more than 15 years of experience advising affluent individuals and their families manage the numerous aspects of wealth accumulation and transfer. Jeff assists clients with complex individual tax compliance and strategy, philanthropic planning, and trust and estate design. Joined Board of Directors in 2019.

Secretary

Kim Seward is a freelance writer, working primarily with medical product and higher ed software companies. She also writes nature-based children’s books. She and her husband are avid amateur naturalists and enjoy hiking, cross-country skiing, raising caterpillars to release as butterflies, and creating and enhancing habitat on their North Adams property. Joined Board of Directors in 2017.

Stephen Alsdorf is a family physician. His preferred prescription is time outdoors. Prior to medical school, he lived in France and Japan for several years and loves travel and foreign languages. An avid trail runner, biker and skier, he lives in Lenox with his wife and two daughters. Joined Board of Directors in 2019.

Following a career in finance and operations with for-profits, as well as with non-profits in the visual and performing arts, Bob settled in Lenox with his husband Dan. He received a BS from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, and currently serves on the board of Kids in Need of Defense and on The Nature Conservancy’s NY State Leadership Council. He is particularly interested in wetlands and in protecting wildlife habitat and migration corridors. 

Brian Fairbank, member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, is Chairman of The Fairbank Group, a company that operates ski resorts in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont—including Jiminy Peak in the Berkshires. Brian has also been recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the National Ski Areas Association. He is known for leadership with regard to sustainability and green energy within the ski industry.
Joined Board of Directors in 2020.

Henry Flint sits on the Conservation Commission for the Town of Alford and owns Scribner Brook Farm, a 170-acre farm protected with an Agricultural Preservation Restriction. He is president of the Alford Land Trust. Joined Board of Directors in 2006.

Ellen Hand has family roots in the Berkshires and divides her time between Lenox and Brooklyn. She is particularly interested in protecting farms, wetlands, and open fields—the latter because they provide an especially good introduction to nature for those who have grown up in a more urban setting and may not be immediately comfortable in the woods. Helping establish wildlife corridors between conservation lands is also of great importance to Ellen. Joined Board of Directors in 2010.

Carrie Holland is the Executive Director of Hancock Shaker Village. Prior to returning to the Berkshires, she lived in the Washington D.C. area working in the National Security field. Carrie also serves on the boards Barrington Stage Company and Boston Symphony Orchestra. A former Division I soccer player, Carrie particularly enjoys the accessibility of outdoor sports as a returned-native to the Berkshires. Joined Board of Directors in 2019.

Brian Horan is a litigation attorney at Horan Law LLC in Pittsfield, where he represents clients in commercial, land use, and other types of disputes. Brian previously devoted more than a decade to public service at the New York City Office of the Corporation Counsel. Brian was recognized by the New York Law Journal as a 40-under-40 “Rising Star.” He received his BA from Columbia University and his JD from NYU School of Law, where he was an editor of the NYU Environmental Law Journal. Brian lives in Great Barrington with his wife and their two children.

Eric Katzman, the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Rockingstone Advisors, has enjoyed a multi-decade career on Wall Street, and is recognized as an expert in consumer-packaged goods. He received his MBA in Finance from New York University and his BA in Economics and Government from Oberlin College. Eric is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Oberlin College as well as on the school’s Endowment Investment Committee. Previously he was a member of the NY State Board of The Nature Conservancy. Joined Board of Directors in 2020.

Larry Lane is a Berkshire County native who owned and operated the Arcadian Shop in Lenox for over 46 years. He is an avid hiker, runner and cross-country skier who is committed to conserving land for the enjoyment of the public. Joined Board of Directors in 2005.

John Mancia has recently retired from a long career in publishing including 30 years’ senior management experience with Elsevier, the largest international science and medical publisher. He and his wife Linda split their time between West Stockbridge and New York and have a long tradition of working with local nonprofits as active volunteers and board members. Joined Board of Directors in 2018.

Syd Smithers was for fifty-two years a Berkshire County dirt (real estate) lawyer, now retired. He was previously a BNRC Board member for 10 years and is pleased to be re-joining the team. Syd was also a board member for the Trustees of Reservations for 12 years, serving as Chair of their board for six years. Now, with wife Mundi, he resides of Vermont and is available for travel assignments.

Elena is a tenured professor of environmental studies at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. She and her husband live in North Adams with their young sons. She began her environmental career as a BNRC Rice Fellow in 2001 and earned her PhD in 2011.

Ari has over 25 years of experience as a small business owner and is the first Black cannabis license holder in the Berkshires. He is the Vice President and Founder of Friends of Smiley’s Pond, Blackshires Community Empowerment, and serves on the board of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team. Ari also serves as Vice Chair of the DuBois Sculpture Project, Assistant Land Steward for the Egremont Land Trust, and was co-founder of the Sessions Youth Empowerment Program.