The San Juan Preservation Trust has announced that it has hired a new Director of Philanthropy. Orcas Island resident Barbara Courtney will manage the organization’s fundraising program, which includes developing major donor and planned giving strategies, leading capital campaigns, managing public and private grants, and oversight of membership and annual giving programs, all of which are designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Preservation Trust’s conservation work in the San Juans.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Barbara to the team,” said Tim Seifert, executive director of the Preservation Trust. “Her deep appreciation for the places and people of our islands will elevate the quality and pace of our conservation work.”

Said Courtney, “I became aware of the Preservation Trust’s important accomplishments during the Campaign for Turtleback Mountain. I look forward to working with the great people of the Trust – board, staff, supporters – to protect these beautiful islands.”

Prior to accepting the position at the Preservation Trust, Courtney had served for five years as the Executive/Artistic Director of the Orcas Center in Eastsound. During her tenure, she led the non-profit through a strategic planning process, initiated a dance and theater instruction program for children, and saw the organization through fiscal challenges during the economic downturn. In the last three years of her leadership, attendance at the Center’s events has been at a record 70 to 75 percent capacity.

Courtney holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Not-for-Profit Leadership from Seattle University, both of which led her to a career spent entirely in the nonprofit sector, specifically in the arts and the environmental fields. She comes to the San Juan Preservation Trust with a love of the islands and a desire to help protect them.