About York Land Trust > Who We Are

Who We Are

York Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that protects and cares for significant natural lands and waterways in the greater York Maine area for the benefit of the community and the environment.

Board of Directors

  • Jared Chase, President
  • Richard G. Leigh, Vice President
  • Gail Gilchrest, Secretary
  • Stephen Bousquet, Treasurer
  • Karen Arsenault
  • Wayne Boardman
  • Shaun Dillon
  • Debby Ethridge
  • Clifford O’Connor
  • David Radue
  • Ala Reid
  • Greg Wagoner
  • Nancy Nadler

Staff

Amelia Nadilo, Executive Director

Amelia Nadilo joined York Land Trust as its Executive Director in October 2022.

With a B.S. in Secondary Education from Penn State University, Amelia has worked as an educator and program director in California, New Hampshire, Croatia, Italy and Thailand. She mostly recently served as the Director of the Catalina Environmental Leadership Program on Catalina Island in California, an educational partnership with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society.

Amelia is an advocate for inclusivity, social change, and connecting youth with the outdoors. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, hiking, being on or under the water, and spending time with her family.

Doreen MacGillis, Land Protection Specialist

Doreen has been working in the environmental field for more than twenty-five years on a variety of issues including open space protection, community gardening, estuaries restoration, food and water safety and solid waste education.

From 1999 – 2022, Doreen was YLT’s Executive Director and oversaw the organization’s growth from an all-volunteer land trust to a professionally-staffed land trust implementing regional initiatives. Doreen is a founding member of the Mount Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative (MtA2C), an effort led by a coalition of ten conservation entities, that has raised $30 million to conserve land in the greater Mt. Agamenticus region of southern, Maine since 2002. Today, there are over 15,000 protected acres in the MtA2C region.

She holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Central Connecticut State University. She lives in York with her husband, David and son, Daniel. Her passions include: being a mom, skiing, hiking, gardening and singing in a community chorus.

Patty O’Connor, Development Assistant

Patty recently joined York Land Trust and comes from across the Piscataqua River, where she spent 17 years at The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (NHCF).

For eight years, she managed the administration of the regional grant program and supported Development and Planned Giving staff. During the last nine years at NHCF, Patty worked in the Philanthropy Department assisting statewide Development staff with structuring charitable gifts including bequests and charitable gift annuities. She also worked closely with the Controller and Vice President of Program Operations on compliance issues.

Her past volunteer work includes the Town of North Hampton 250th Anniversary Committee, the North Hampton Recycling Center Volunteer and 8 years on the Conservation Commission. Patty enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, sailing and most outside activities. She plans to travel along the Maine coast this summer and spend some time exploring the wilds of Acadia.

Liz Walworth, Stewardship Director

Liz has been working with land for over a decade, beginning as a farmhand and ardent trail builder. They began work with YLT in 2021 following a season as Trail Team Leader with the Maine Conservation Corps, where they coordinated with public lands and land trusts to build better trail infrastructure across the state of Maine. They currently sit on the board of the Peaks Island Land Preserve where they oversee the Ice pond Rewilding Initiative – a community effort to reintroduce native plant species to disturbed land on the island.

Liz holds a BS in Environmental Studies from Suffolk University in Boston and has experience in stewardship, project planning and grant writing. Liz’s passions in life are rock work, backpacking and textile arts.

Evelyn Brown, Stewardship Coordinator

Evelyn is excited to join York Land Trust’s stewardship team and recently moved to southern Maine where she has been getting to know the area through its beautiful public spaces. After graduating from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Environmental Science, she worked in various conservation fields specializing in restoration ecology.

Previously Evelyn was a crew member with Utah Conservation Corps, a Marine Fisheries Observer with NOAA, and a Team Lead at North Spore. She currently volunteers for Maine Audubon and Appalachian Mountain Club and spends her free time enjoying her two cats, playing out in the woods, and exploring Maine’s coast and islands in her kayak.

Kara Siglin, Programs & Communications Manager

YLT is thrilled to welcome Kara to the team. Kara studied government, history, and Spanish at the University of Maryland, College Park before heading down to the Florida Keys to teach marine ecology. She has since taught, lived, and farmed off the coast of California and New Zealand before landing in beautiful coastal Maine. She specializes in environmental writing and photography and is eager to continue her work in the conservation nonprofit world.

In her free time, Kara likes to surf, ski, and bake. She guides backpacking trips across the country and is active in her book club.