After 12 wonderful and rewarding years leading Frenchman Bay Conservancy, I will step down from serving as FBC’s Executive Director at the end of 2026. I’m proud of all that we’ve accomplished together! I am also well aware of the imperative for organizational leadership to pass the torch at the right moment, and that moment is coming up next year for me. I make this decision with total confidence that FBC is in a strong position today to continue to excel as a conservation leader. This is not an easy decision for me. It has been an honor to lead this accomplished organization for the past decade, and I continue to enjoy working with this exceptional team of talented people.

Together with the thousands of people like you who have given to FBC, plus the dozens of staff and board members who have been a part of this team over the past decade, we have conserved approximately 14,000 additional acres of land, with roughly 6,000 more currently in the pipeline. We conserved 2300 acres of undeveloped coastline, intact forests, and vital wildlife habitat in the Frenchman Bay region over the past decade, including on Partridge Cove in Lamoine and on the Jordan River in Trenton. In partnership with Heart of Ellsworth, the Ellsworth Garden Club, and numerous individuals and organizations, we created the Ellsworth Green Plan. We brought outdoor education to hundreds of kids annually in Hancock County across 11 elementary schools with Maine Outdoor School. This year, we will restore saltmarsh and tributaries to the Jordan River in Trenton, with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’ Coastal Wetlands Grant program. All of this work was made possible because of your generous gifts of land, money, time, and talent – including most notably our $14 million comprehensive campaign that surpassed our fundraising goal and finished ahead of schedule.

Frenchman Bay Conservancy was founded nearly 40 years ago with a powerful mission to permanently protect natural lands and waters from exploitation – for the benefit of all. This gift that FBC’s founders gave to all of us – the present day leaders and members of FBC – will endure far into the future because we have shouldered the responsibility to boldly conserve land now, while we still can. We endow future organizations with a conservation ethic, supporting their commitment to lead and to adapt. This is the magic and beauty of an organization that will outlive all of us.

FBC is in good hands with a dedicated board of directors. The board will begin an executive search early next year. With talented staff, including a strong senior leadership team, FBC will continue to pursue a bold conservation vision as a new Executive Director steps into this role late next year. We ask for your continued support and partnership in helping us make this transition a successful one. With a current slate full of exciting projects, and more on the horizon, I am proud to lead this organization for one more year, and excited to see all that FBC accomplishes under new leadership.

Aaron Dority
Executive Director