Hilltown Land Trust | Seeking candidates for board service

Last rays of light illuminate a green forested ridge as the sky turns from blue to yellow.

As Hilltown Land Trust (HLT) celebrates 40 years of conservation in Western Massachusetts, we are seeking new members to join our Board of Directors.

HLT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trust that works through strong community relationships to conserve and steward land that provides clean water, wildlife habitat, climate resilience, recreational opportunities, and healthy farmland for the benefit of all.

We are looking for individuals with the experience, skills, perspective, and energy to help guide HLT into its next chapter. If you are passionate about protecting the land and natural resources of the Hilltowns and interested in making a meaningful contribution to our organization and community, we would love to hear from you.

The main qualification for board service is a passion for and capacity to advance HLT’s mission. HLT welcomes candidates who may not be familiar with board service. If you are selected for board service, you will be paired with a current board member who will provide guidance about the role and responsibilities of a HLT board member.

Hilltown Land Trust Core Values

We are looking for Board members who embrace our core values:

Community

The benefits of conserving land extend beyond our geographic service area. Our HLT community includes partners, donors, visitors, volunteers, collaborators and supporters from all over and from all walks of life. By welcoming and embracing diverse opinions and identities, our Hilltown Land Trust community and the land we conserve and steward will have a greater impact both within our service area and beyond.

Sustainability

We believe that the health of the land, the fauna and flora, our air and water, and ultimately, people require attention and care over the long term. Our mission and resultant actions must be anchored in the truths of the past, the realities of today, and be focused on future outcomes.

Collaboration

We seek to build lasting partnerships through listening and sustained engagement and seek to pool our resources with others to advance shared goals. By leveraging our collective strengths and expertise, we will accomplish more than on our own. HLT is particularly focused on exploring engagement with Native American communities.

Accountability

We understand that honesty and transparency are essential to earning the trust of our donors, our members, our volunteers, our partners, and the communities we seek to serve. Additionally, as a land conservation organization, we hold ourselves accountable to telling a more complete history of the land we conserve and the peoples on it.

Belonging

All people benefit from the preservation of the natural world and have a right to be heard and to be included in issues that affect their lives and those of future generations. We seek to address historical and present-day barriers, inequities, and discrimination that limit access to our natural world.

About Board Service

HLT Board members are volunteers who care deeply about conserving the open spaces, natural settings, wildlife, and other qualities that make the thirteen western Massachusetts Hilltowns special. As ambassadors for HLT, Board members help strengthen the organization through community outreach, fundraising, and organizational leadership.

The Board of Directors is responsible for HLT’s overall direction and governance. This includes advancing the organization’s mission and commitments, ensuring lawful and ethical practices, establishing and overseeing policies, and maintaining HLT’s financial health and long-term sustainability.

Board members serve three-year, renewable terms. The full Board meets six times each year and participates in an annual one-day in-service. Each Board member also serves on one or two standing committees. Committees include Governance, Projects, Stewardship, Engagement and Outreach, Development, and Reexamining Conservation.

At all times, Board members work collaboratively with one another, HLT staff, and the communities we serve.

Board Member Responsibilities

GENERALLY

Have sufficient knowledge of HLT’s vision, mission, and values as stated in HLT’s strategic plan, to 1) assist in their development and execution as needed and 2) explain them to others when called upon to do so.
Be familiar with and carry out HLT’s responsibilities under its Affiliation Agreement with The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees).
Be familiar with and follow HLT’s Bylaws.
Be familiar with and follow HLT’s Roles & Responsibilities for Board, Board Officers,

Committees, Staff, and Advisors.

Exercise reasonable care when making decisions as stewards of HLT.
Act in the organization’s best interests and avoid self-dealing.
Act as an ambassador for HLT in the community and spread the word about HLT’s work.
Maintain skills and knowledge related to land trust activities, seek training as needed, and educate co-directors as appropriate.
Keep abreast of commercial, political, and social activities in HLT’s service area related to development and conservation.
Be well informed about the subject of HLT decisions and act fairly and impartially in the best interests of HLT’s conservation work.
Understand and respect the different roles and responsibilities of HLT’s staff, including the Executive Director and the Board of Directors

SPECIFICALLY

Make every effort to attend scheduled Board meetings and committee meetings on which you serve.
Participate actively in Board and Committee discussions and deliberations.
Make every effort to attend HLT’s public events as often as possible and speak with the public about HLT’s work.
Serve on at least one HLT committee and fully participate in its activities (Executive, Governance, Stewardship, Engagement, Fundraising, Project Management).
Be willing to serve in a leadership role and/or undertake special assignments. Volunteer to perform Board and Committee “homework”, including serving on project workgroups, to the extent your individual circumstances allow.
Play an active role in HLT fundraising by assisting with activities including donor solicitation, cultivation and retention, donor acknowledgments (writing letters to and/or calling donors), and attending fundraising events.
Make an annual financial contribution to HLT according to individual ability. Encourage colleagues and acquaintances to support HLT.
Strictly adhere to HLT’s Policy of Conflict of Interest, Board Compensation, Insider Transactions, and all other Board policies.

If you are interested in learning more about Board service with Hilltown Land Trust, we encourage you to reach out and begin a conversation.