Staff and Counsel
Mary A. Elfner is the foundation’s executive director. She currently is a vice-president for the Richmond Audubon Society and on the board of directors of Richmond’s Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. She has a B.S. from Warren Wilson College in Environmental Studies and Chemistry and a M.S. from the University of Georgia in Environmental Policy and Wildlife Biology. In addition, Mary has worked for the National Audubon Society, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Savannah-Chatham County Metropolitan Planning Commission. She served as executive director of the Coastal Georgia Land Trust. She lives with her family in Richmond and enjoys travel as well as her work as a fitness instructor and personal trainer.
Gabriel Quintero is the foundation’s Forest Coordinator, working as boots-on-the-ground to connect with our forest owners and provide services including general inspections, inventories, carbon storage assessments, website resources, and more. He also coordinates and trains our student assistants for summer inventories and assessments. Gabe holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Randolph College, and has worked to develop a carbon storage assessment methodology and guide, which he now implements in our forests. In his free time, Gabe enjoys hiking, driving scenic routes, and scuba diving.
Kerry Hutcherson, an attorney with Rudy, Coyner in Richmond, serves as counsel for the foundation. He has a B.A. from Virginia Tech, a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a J.D. from the University of Richmond. Before joining Rudy Coyer, Kerry worked as Staff Counsel of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. Kerry has expanded his practice area beyond the field of land conservation to include commercial and residential real estate transactions, land use law, landlord-tenant law, and other land-related legal services. Kerry has continued working with prospective conservation easement donors, owners of properties that are currently protected by conservation easements, and private land trusts.
