Board of Directors
Our eight to eleven board members are elected by the membership at large at the annual meeting. They serve staggered two-year terms. Please contact Board Members at: board@friendsoftheacfl.org
Charlie Collins, President
Charlie is a native of Washington state, having grown up in Mukilteo and graduating from the University of Washington. He and his wife Ute have been in Anacortes since 2006.
He says: Growing up in Mukilteo, I had lots of open green spaces available, which shaped my childhood, led me to pursue science in my education, and had a huge impact on my life. I hope preserving and sharing our open spaces in Anacortes will be equally impactful for others.
Charlie enjoys taking in all the Anacortes has to offer, including spending time on the trails with his wife and two dogs, Dory and Gus.
Steve Williams, Vice President
Steve has a deep appreciation for the forest and its natural beauty. Born and raised on the East Coast, he grew up fishing, crabbing, hiking, skiing and was immersed in enjoying the outdoors. Steve and his family have been residents of Anacortes since 2011, and he develops and leads STEM programs for community members, ranging in age from 5 to 95.
Jessica Redman, Secretary (she/her/hers)
Jessica grew up in south Florida and first became passionate about nature through her times exploring the habitats of the Everglades and the Florida Keys. That passion stayed with her as she sorted out her career as an ecologist in Alaska, Cape Cod, Hawaii, and the Gulf Coast. She ultimately landed in the PNW (where she plans to stay) and has been working as an environmental consultant, with an expertise in wetland science, for the past decade. Since moving to Anacortes in 2020, she has been amazed by the beautiful recreational opportunities that Fidalgo Island provides. She is honored to be a board member of Friends to aid in the education, advocacy, and stewardship of the lands for future generations. Jessica enjoys exploring all the ACFL has to offer, via foot, paddleboard, and canoe, with her husband Isaac, and faithful trail dog, Amy.
Dr. Becky Clifford
Raised in New York with a love for sports and national parks, Becky moved to Washington in 2004 and was amazed by the local forests. Relocating to Anacortes in 2020, she developed a deep appreciation for the community forest lands. With a desire to pass this appreciation to our youth, Becky worked to strengthen the partnership between Friends of the Forest and the Anacortes School District, where she is Assistant Superintendent. She is committed to supporting community outdoor experiences and grateful to contribute to the conservation of precious forest lands.
Aaron Katz
Aaron and his artist wife, Kate Dougherty, moved to Anacortes in April 2019 after living in Seattle for more than 40 years. They enjoy hiking, biking, pickleball, eating in the area’s great restaurants, listening to music, dancing, and traveling. When they moved into their Anacortes home, Aaron and Kate knew nothing about the ACFL, their new “neighbor.“ But they quickly gained a great appreciation of this gem during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they explored its trails and lakes.
In 2020, Aaron retired from the University of Washington School of Public Health as Principal Lecturer Emeritus at the University of Washington School of Public Health where he taught graduate level courses in health policy and conducted health policy projects and research on a wide variety of issues. During his 32 years at UW, Aaron held numerous academic leadership positions and has received various awards, including the American Public Health Association’s Award for Excellence in 2006 and the Outstanding Teaching Award from the UW School of Public Health in 2004.
Lin Nichols, Treasurer (she/her/hers)
Lin grew up loving the outdoors, albeit in a decidedly non-conservation-minded way. Her mindset has shifted over the years, partly through the commitment and collective passion of the staff, board, and members of the Friends of the Forest. Through them, she feels that she’s learned the value and importance of co-existing with nature and not simply co-opting it for humans’ needs.
Lin is grateful for the opportunity to give back to the community through service on the board of directors.
Rob Skelton
As an Anacortes native growing up next to Mount Erie, Rob’s love for the outdoors was cemented at an early age. After spending over a decade working in the real estate industry in Malibu, CA, Rob returned to Anacortes to raise his own family. Through his profession, he is often the initial point of contact with newcomers moving to the area and uses that unique opportunity to introduce and educate others to the vast resources that the ACFL offer.
Lynne Jordan (she/her/hers)
Lynne has more than 20 years of nonprofit fundraising and management experience and has lived in Anacortes since 2011. She enjoys regular trail runs and exploratory walks in the ACFL.
Lynne is a 2014 Leadership Skagit Graduate and has a Master of Environmental Studies degree from The Evergreen State College.
Andrea Petrich (she/her/hers)
A lover of most things outdoors, Andrea grew up in the Midwest enjoying lake life, flat hikes, and car camping. During grad school, her colleagues talked her into her first backpacking trip in Glacier National Park and despite hiding in the tent playing cards for most of it because of the bugs, she was hooked! Andrea’s hiking and backpacking adventures are moving at a banana-slug pace right now with the additions of two young sons but she (mostly) enjoys their short and mud-filled adventures into to the ACFL.
An alum of Arizona State University’s Cronkite School, Andrea and her husband Tom have called Anacortes home since 2016 and love the town and the support for community forest lands and their accessibility for so many. When she has solo time, Andrea loves doing a loop hike or (extremely slow) run on the Whistle Lake trails with her pound puppy, Derby.
Staff
Our office is located at 404 Commercial Avenue in Anacortes. Our office hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 10am -3pm, or by appointment. You can reach us by phone at 360-293-3725 or email us at info@friendsoftheacfl.org
Katie Earley, Executive Director (she/her/hers)
Katie grew up in Seattle, WA and spent summers visiting Anacortes and Guemes Island. They always been her happy place and after 15 years of living and working in different corners of the country, Katie and her family moved back to Anacortes in 2014.
Katie earned a B.A. in Sociology and Masters in Education at the University of Notre Dame. Her career began in education as a 5th grade teacher but she soon moved to the nonprofit world, first serving as Program Director of Teens of Public Service (TIPS), an organization offering paid summer internships to high school students in non-profits throughout the Greater Seattle area. Katie continued leading teams in mission-driven organizations as Director of Operations at Young Scholars Charter School in North Philadelphia and as Program Director of the SBIRT Medical Residency Training Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Most recently. Katie served as Head of Group Operations at Pace, a mental health tech start up, a company working to unlock emotional connection through facilitated groups on a digital platform.
In her free time, Katie loves to spend time outdoors hiking, biking, and skiing with her husband and 3 girls. As an Anacortes resident who walks the ACFL almost everyday and has 3 daughters in the school district, Katie sees firsthand just how valuable Friends of the ACFL is to our community.
Hannah Katz, Youth Education Coordinator (she/her/hers)
Hannah spent most of her life in New York before moving to Washington in 2021. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a B.A. in Environmental Studies, with a focus on experiential learning through projects like setting up a community maple sugaring operation and working on youth climate summits. After school she spend time working in Vermont with an organization focused on closing the opportunity gap for school aged kids, and completed an AmeriCorps term with Skagit Land Trust where she focused on community engagement. During her time at SLT, Hannah worked to increase community engagement through running educational events, communications, and stewardship work parties. Outside of work, Hannah and her partner love to exploring their new home in the PNW by bike, foot, tent, or boat! Hannah is WFA Certified.
Ellie Kravets, Community Programs Coordinator (she/her/hers)
Ellie was born and raised in New Orleans, where she first developed a passion for environmental education during the five years she spent as a volunteer/intern at the Audubon Zoo. Ellie worked variously as a costume-rearer for Mississippi sandhill cranes and as a botany field tech in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park before graduating from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill with a B.S. in biology and a minor in marine science. Her long-term passion for informal science education brought her to the Salish Sea in 2018, where she quickly fell in love with the region’s rich landscape of community-centered science learning during her two years at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. In 2022, Ellie completed a M.A. in Museology (Museum Studies) with a specialization in museum evaluation from the University of Washington. Outside of work, she enjoys taking advantage of the spectacular PNW environment: gardening, tidepooling, and generally just soaking up the rain! Ellie is WFA Certified.
Kendra McConnell, Development and Outreach Coordinator (she/they/hers)
Kendra grew up in Skagit County never being far from a hike, a beach, campsite, or good kayak spot. Their roots run deep in the Anacortes and surrounding forests, as her late grandfather, Robert Little, was a Washington State Park Ranger, who worked at Deception Pass State Park and even proposed to her grandmother on its beach.
Kendra graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration - Management. She has a history of volunteering and working with nonprofits of all types, stepping into this role after two years working for Camp Fire Samish & Camp Kirby, and owning her own event and wedding planning business for 7 years.
She is an artist, a proud aunt to three small monsters, queen of game night, an activist, and a self-proclaimed Crab Rangoon connoisseur.