Hicks New Director of Communications and Outreach

After recent staffing restructuring, Maine Woodland Owners is pleased to announce the hiring of Jennifer Hicks as its new Director of Communications and Outreach.

Jenn comes to the organization from Teens To Trails where she served as its Development Coordinator. Previous to that, Jenn was the Executive Director of Pemaquid Watershed Association which recently merged with Damariscotta River Association to become Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust. 

The position was created to centralize all public engagement and communication Maine Woodland Owners conducts, expand efforts to get the word out about the organization’s important work, and increase its ability to provide the services on which woodland owners have come to rely. In addition, Hicks will evaluate current outreach initiatives and programs and determine ways to bring in new members and donors and keep current members informed about good forestry practices and forestry-related events. 

Hicks’s primary work is to transition all newsletter development - much of which has been outsourced – to an internal operation. She will serve as the Editor-in-Chief, taking the place of Douglas Rooks who capably led the newsletter development for the past nine years. “What an exciting challenge it will be to lead the development of the Maine Woodlands,” Hicks said. “I thank Doug for all his good work managing this publication and getting it to where it is today. It is an important benefit of membership, and we will continue to provide strong content while expanding our topic areas and pool of writers. The newsletter will serve as the hub of the expansion of the organization’s communication and outreach efforts.” 

While not a native, Jenn comes from a long line of Mainers who settled here as far back as the early 1700s. She has spent time with family in the Portland, Hicks New Director of Communications and Outreach Bangor, and Rockport area every summer of her life, and always knew that at some point she would land in the state permanently. In 2016 Jenn, moved with her husband, Tom, and two sons, Tyler and Wyatt, from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Brunswick. “The landscape in Maine – especially the forested land – is the only place I felt was home for me,” she said. 

Jenn earned degrees in Education from Shippensburg, University of Pennsylvania, and in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England Graduate School in Keene, N.H. She spent four years as an educator and program manager with Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and then served as an organizational development and community sustainability program consultant for dozens of environmental and municipal organizations in the Mid-Atlantic region, focusing primarily on Chesapeake Bay watershed protection, habitat restoration, local agriculture, and clean energy development. 

Jenn can be reached by e-mail: jenn@ mainewoodlandowners.org or by calling the office: 626-0005.