Meet the heart and soul behind the Walden Woods Project -- our devoted board and staff. The Project is rooted in people who have made it their mission to establish a dynamic environment of creativity, professionalism and continued commitment to preserving the historical landscape of Walden Woods.

Board of Directors  |  Walden Woods Project Staff

Board of Directors

Don Henley, founder of the Walden Woods Project and Thoreau Institute, is the Chairman of the Board. Mr. Henley is a Grammy award-winning recording artist, both with the Eagles and as a solo artist. In recognition of his efforts to save Walden Woods and his leadership role in establishing the Thoreau Institute, Mr. Henley was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 1997 by President Clinton.

Kathi Anderson is the Secretary of the Board and Executive Director of the Walden Woods Project. From 1977-1990, she was a staff member for U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy. She served as the legislative director of the Senator’s Massachusetts office and as a legislative assistant for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. She has served on a number of nonprofit boards including RESTORE: The North Woods, the Walden Conservancy and the Thoreau Society.

Ed Begley, Jr. is a well-known stage and screen actor and perhaps the living definition of the word “environmentalist.” He was recycling before the first Earth Day took place. When participating in Walden Woods Project events, he often travels across the country by train or in his hybrid vehicle as part of his own crusade to promote mass transit and to reduce energy emissions. He is involved with many organizations such as the Coalition For Clean Air, The Union Of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Media Association.

John P. DeVillars is a Managing Partner of BlueWave Capital, LLC, a renewable energy and brownfield development company, and Senior Vice President of TRC, Inc.  He previously served as the New England Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Secretary of Environmental Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MPA degree from Harvard University. He has received numerous environmental awards including the President’s Award of the Nature Conservancy for outstanding national leadership.

Thomas O. Jones, a technology entrepreneur, serves as the Treasurer of the Walden Woods Project and as Chair of the WWP Audit Committee. He was a co-founder of Epsilon - the nation's leading database marketing company - and served as its CEO until it was acquired by American Express. A graduate of MIT and Harvard, he has taught on the fulltime faculty of both the Harvard Business School and MIT's Sloan School. He is featured in a number of HBS Publishing products - the most recent of which appeared in the July 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review. He is a recognized expert in the area of customer loyalty and personalized marketing and speaks widely on issues relating to organizational innovation and transformation.

Betsy Kenny Lack is a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair magazine. Prior to that, she was a consultant to Forstmann Little & Co., the investment firm founded by Theodore J. Forstmann. In addition to the Walden Woods Project, she sits on the board of Thirteen-WNET and WLIW, the organization that oversees the public television stations in the New York metropolitan area and the board of the Riverdale Country School.

John H. Tyson is Chairman and CEO of Tyson Foods, Inc. and a member of the Executive Committee of Tyson's Board of Directors. He has worked at Tyson Foods since 1974, in many different areas of the company's business, ranging from operations to marketing to governmental relations. He was the March of Dimes 2003 Man of the Year. He is a member of the Business Roundtable and serves on the Advisory Board for the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School.

Anna West Winter is Executive Director of Save Our Heritage, a non-profit citizen’s organization whose mission is to protect and preserve the birthplace of the American Revolution. She worked as a freelance art director for film and television. Ms. Winter serves as a Corporator for Emerson Hospital; as a Trustee of The Trustees of Reservations; as a member of the Board of Governors at the Concord Museum; and as a member of the Board of Directors of Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.

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Walden Woods Project Staff

Kathi Anderson (see Board of Directors) -- is the Secretary of the WWP Board of Directors and has been the executive director of the organization since its founding in 1990. From 1977-1990, she served in various legislative capacities on the staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy in Washington, DC and Boston. She is a graduate of Boston College. Kathi supervises the WWP staff, oversees strategic planning, mission-related initiatives of the organization, fundraising and public relations.

Matthew Burne – Conservation Director - holds a Master of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology from UMass-Amherst and is a former Reading High School biology teacher. Prior to teaching, he was an ecologist with the Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, expert in vernal pool habitat and wildlife. Matt is responsible for the planning and execution of the organization’s conservation mission, and makes significant contributions to the organization’s educational programming.

Jeffrey S. Cramer – Curator of Collections -- is a professional librarian with nearly thirty years of experience. He is a Thoreau scholar and editor of Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition (Yale University Press, 2004), I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau (Yale University Press, 2007) and The Maine Woods: A Fully Annotated Edition (Yale University Press, 2009), and the forthcoming The Quotable Thoreau (Princeton University Press, 2010), The Portable Thoreau (Penguin, 2010) and Selected Essays of Henry David Thoreau: A Fully Annotated Edition (Yale University Press, 2011). Jeff oversees the library, provides research support and responds to public inquiries.

Susan Frey – Director of Education – has worked in education for over 15 years and has an expertise in service learning. She manages our web-based environmental education program -- World Wide Waldens. In addition, she develops and teaches a variety of professional development seminars and workshops for educators. Susan is responsible for managing our visitor programs and is the current Chair of the Concord Historical Collaborative. Susan holds two masters degrees in education from Harvard University and Bank Street College of Education. Prior to joining the WWP, she was director of education at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and Shoots Program and taught middle school in Winnetka, IL.

Catherine Lemay –part-time Bookkeeper - was a volunteer with the organization for nine years, providing assistance during major fundraising events and office support, before joining the staff in 1999. Cathy provides administrative accounting support for the organization.

Dan Schmid – Facilities Director – is a licensed contractor who operated his own custom building business in Boston and the Metro-West area for 20 years. Dan has been with the WWP since 1998 and is responsible for maintaining the organization’s grounds, buildings, and its systems. He also has been involved in the acquisition and the sale of three of the organization’s properties.

LeighAnn Sciacca – part-time CPA -- manages the financial operations of the organization. LeighAnn has ten years of experience working with non-profits organizations. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from Bentley College.

Juliet Trofi – Assistant to the Director – has been on the WWP staff since 1991. She manages the office, provides administrative support, organizes special events and other fundraising activities.  She also coordinates on-site programs such as the Stewardship Lecture Series and co-edits the organization’s newsletter. 

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