SVBF to Expand and Reorganize Staff

Increasing momentum of its mission prompts the need to strengthen Foundation’s capacity

For immediate release—December 9, 2009
Contact:   Elizabeth Paradis Stern/SVBF (540-740-4545 x205)

WINCHESTER, Va.—In a move designed to increase the effectiveness and capacity of the organization, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation is expanding and reorganizing its staff.

At a meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees in Winchester on Tuesday, Executive Director W. Denman Zirkle announced the creation of two new staff positions and the streamlining of Foundation's work into two new departments, one which will encompass all of the organization’s preservation, planning, and property management programs, and the other which will group together the Foundation’s external communications, marketing and interpretation, and government relations programs. The changes will become effective on January 1, 2010.

Zirkle noted the Battlefields Foundation's long and successful track record and his effort to build on it. "When I joined the Foundation last spring, I was blessed to come to an organization that had built a solid list of accomplishments—more than 2,000 acres preserved, three Civil War orientation centers created, extensive partner engagement, and the list goes on," he said.  "But we were struggling to keep up with the challenges that come with success.  In any business, managing and building on one's own achievements are important. So we are assembling a highly professional and effective team and structuring it in a way that will enable us to advance our mission even further.”

Preservation, Planning, and Stewardship

In a newly-created position, John D. Hutchinson V will become the Foundation’s Director of Preservation and Planning. A certified land use planner who from 2001 to 2006 managed the Foundation's preservation program, he has been in private practice as President of the Jennings Gap Partnership since 2007 and has been a managing a trail design and construction project for the Foundation as a part-time employee since May.

In his new position, Hutchinson will direct all of the organization's land preservation, land use planning, and property management work.  He will have on his team Chase Milner, whose title will change to Program Manager for Land Conservation and Stewardship, and additional staff as the organization’s preservation and stewardship programs continue to expand.

Hutchinson will also increase the Foundation's work with conservation agencies, other preservation organizations, and local planning staff in the Valley as they endeavor to protect the historic landscapes in their communities.

“We’re pleased to have John rejoin the organization,” said Zirkle.  “As a planner, conservationist, and a Valley native who has been involved with the Foundation and battlefield preservation in the region for 20 years, John’s experience in working with our programs and landowners, his institutional knowledge, and his planning background will greatly strengthen the Foundation’s preservation and stewardship work.”

A member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, Hutchinson has been working in conservation, non-profit development, and land use planning for more than two decades.  During his six years at the Foundation, he helped the organization protect more than 1,200 acres of battlefield land in the Valley, worked with landowners to develop preservation plans for four of the Valley’s ten battlefields—the first of which won a planning award—and wrote numerous grant applications, garnering almost $2 million in funding for the organization’s preservation efforts.

Before joining the Battlefields Foundation in 2001, Hutchinson, a Staunton native, worked with numerous regional and statewide non-profit organizations and corporations in Virginia including the Valley Conservation Council, Western Virginia Land Trust, and Preservation Alliance of Virginia.

He received a Masters in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia with a Certificate in Historic Preservation in 2000 and is a 1984 honors graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, with majors in American History and American Literature.

Public Outreach, Communications, and Government Relations

The Foundation’s external communications, outreach, and government relations programs will be directed by Elizabeth Paradis Stern, the organization’s Director of Policy and Communications.  Stern was promoted to her current position in July.  Terence M. Heder, who manages interpretive and visitor services programs, and a newly-hired communications assistant will round out her team.

“Beth and Terry have worked extremely well together since July 2008 when Terry inherited many of the programs that Beth had managed since joining the organization in 2002,” Zirkle said. “They’ve been a solid team already for more than a year so this restructuring just formalizes that.  This, along with the addition of a communications assistant, should enhance their effectiveness and will allow Beth to focus more of her energies on the policy and government relations work that is so important to our success.”

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As authorized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation serves as the non-profit manager of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, partnering with local, regional, and national organizations and governments to preserve the Valley’s battlefields and interpret and promote the region’s Civil War story.

Created by Congress in 1996, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District encompasses Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties in Virginia and the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester.  The legislation authorizes federal funding for the protection of ten battlefields in the District: Second Winchester, Third Winchester, Second Kernstown, Cedar Creek, Fisher’s Hill, Tom’s Brook, New Market, Cross Keys, Port Republic, and McDowell.

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ON THE WEB:

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District:
www.ShenandoahAtWar.org

National Park Service 1992 study of the Shenandoah Valley’s Civil War battlefields:
www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/shenandoah/svs0-1.html

 

 

 

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