Friends of Capt. John Smith Trail Name David O'Neill President
APRIL 7, 2009--The Board of Directors of The Friends of the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake Trail has named David J. O'Neill president of the non-profit organization, which lead the way in creating the new Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, the first national historic watertrail.
O'Neill has been a leader in developing Chesapeake Bay policy and in leading restoration work for the bay, and in promoting sustainable development nationally. He most recently was vice-president for communications and external affairs at Cherokee Investment Services, a private equity firm headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is best known in the Chesapeake region, however, for his leadership of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, which during his tenure doubled its revenues and more than doubled its grant making to support restoration work throughout Maryland.
"David brings to our endeavor a wealth of experience in planning, developing policy and building coalitions," said Charlie Stek, chairman of the Friend's board. "He will help the Friends build a strong organization to support the new, bay-wide, national trail by developing stewards for the bay, creating access to the trail and promoting conservation of the Chesapeake's treasured landscape. "
At Cherokee, a leading investment fund focused on sustainable and green redevelopment, O'Neill led a global communications and external affairs program.
During his leadership of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, he forged relationships with federal and state agencies to partner on projects in an effort to leverage Bay funding. He also reinvigorated marketing efforts to interest the public in purchasing BayPlates, the iconic vehicle license tags, and increased funding to get more people and students directly involved in projects and activities that benefit the Bay and its rivers.
While at the Trust, he worked with other funders to establish the Chesapeake Funders Network, a coalition of 20 private foundations committed to the Bay's restoration. He also worked with others to develop and pass the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund. The Trust Fund receives money from state revenues and the sale of bonds and distributes the money to local governments and non-profit organizations to carry out cost effective and targeted restoration work on the Chesapeake and coastal bays.
Prior to working at the Trust, he worked for the Urban Land Institute where he concentrated on developing smart growth policies. The policies centered on building consensus among public, private, and non-profit interest to help communities direct their growth.
"It's an honor to work for the Friends and its exceptional board of directors," says David O'Neill. "We have a unique opportunity to seize an important moment in America's history to advance a national historic water trail for the betterment of the Chesapeake Bay and the citizens that live in its watershed."
The Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake Trail, a 501 (c)(3) organization, coordinates and advances conservation efforts across the watershed in support of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and Chesapeake Bay priorities. Our goal is to conserve treasured landscapes, increase public access to the Bay, and develop local support for the trail.
