Founded as the Conservation Council of Virginia in 1969, Virginia Conservation Network (VCN) began as a roundtable of major conservation groups and has grown to include over 150 Network Partners across the Commonwealth (click here to see a full list of Network Partners). VCN is committed to building a powerful, diverse, and highly-coordinated conservation movement focused on protecting our Commonwealth’s natural resources.

VCN is a facilitator of strategic action, a resource for Network Partners statewide, and a constant conservation presence in Virginia’s Capitol. Playing a unique role in Virginia’s conservation community, VCN helps the community speak with one coordinated voice. The organization and its staff focus on strengthening the conservation community as a whole and winning environmental victories that benefit all Virginians.

VCN’s Network Partners work on a wide range of issues from stream restoration to transportation reform to renewable energy advancement to promoting sustainable community growth and more. Given the diverse work of our partners organizations, VCN organizes its programs into four main categories: Healthy Rivers, Clean Energy and Climate, Land Conservation, and Land Use and Transportation.

VCN is proud to serve as the state lead for the Choose Clean Water Coalition — the regional coalition advocating for clean rivers and streams in communities throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed — and as the Virginia state affiliate for the National Wildlife Federation.

Mary Rafferty | Executive Director

Lisa McLaughlin | Operations Manager

Pat Calvert | Senior Policy & Campaigns Manager – Land Conservation & Healthy Rivers

Wyatt Gordon | Policy & Campaigns Manager – Land Use & Transportation

Narissa Turner | Policy & Campaigns Manager – Clean Energy & Climate

Nicole Duimstra | Communications & Campaigns Manager

Andrew Perrow | Civic Engagement & Outreach Manager

Kyle Gatlin | Partner Resources Manager

Karen Forget | Chair — Executive Director, Lynnhaven River Now

Kendyl Crawford | Vice-Chair — Director, Virginia Interfaith Power & Light

Chris Miller | Secretary — President, Piedmont Environmental Council

Clarence Tong | Treasurer — Legislative Affairs Manager, Environmental Defense Fund

Pamela Bingham — President, Bingham Consulting Services

Jeanette Cadwallender — Former President, Garden Club of Virginia

Karen Campblin — Environment and Climate Justice Chair, Virginia State Conference NAACP

Elizabeth Christeller

Will Cleveland — Staff Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center

Daryl Downing — Executive Committee Member of the Sierra Club (Virginia Chapter), USAF Lt. Col. (ret.)

John Eustis — Executive Director, New River Land Trust

John D. Hutchinson — Executive Director, Valley Conservation Council

Cale Jaffe — Associate Professor of Law & Director of the Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic, University of Virginia School of Law

Roberta Kellam — Chair, Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding and Wildlife Programs, Inc

Stewart Schwartz — Executive Director, Coalition for Smarter Growth

Calandra Waters Lake — Director of Sustainability, College of William & Mary

Kate Wofford — Executive Director, Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley

The Annual Report covers the Network’s legislative accomplishments from the last year, staff and Board changes, an overview of our 2020 events, and more. See our digital version below or reach out for a hardcopy.