An Update from ELM Leadership

Dear friends,

With a full heart, I write to share that after nine and half years, I am stepping down as President of ELM. I love this organization with every cell in my body. For nearly a decade, I’ve worked with purpose, grit, and joy to build ELM into the organization it is today: effective, well-resourced, strategic, principled, and stacked with excellent staff. I am so proud of ELM and I have deep confidence in our Board and staff who will lead this mission forward.

In my next chapter, I will become the Executive Director of the Blue Horizons Foundation.  The Foundation’s mission is to accelerate rigorous, pragmatic, and effective solutions to global decarbonization.

ELM’s impact will continue to be driven by the talent and integrity of a committed, world-class team. Today, Casey Bowers steps into the role of Interim President. I will serve as Advisor to Casey and the Leadership Team to support the transition. Casey has been my close partner in building ELM and the ELM Action Fund for 8 years, serving as the Executive Director of the ELM Action Fund and Executive Vice President of Government Relations for ELM. Resourceful, strategic, hard working, and deeply respected on Beacon Hill, she has been the architect of ELM’s legislative successes and the ELM Action Fund’s electoral wins since 2018. There is no better leader than Casey to sustain ELM’s culture, build its momentum, maintain its broad collaborative relationships, and drive its priorities forward.

For 128 years, ELM has advocated for policies that meet the scale and urgency of our greatest challenges.  My decade was one of thirteen in a rich history that ELM continues to write.  As I reflect on my chapter, I feel pride in how we’ve embodied what Fredrick Law Olmsted Jr. and our founders intended when, with parchment and quill, they penned the charter for an organization that would push Massachusetts to lead the nation in environmental protection. Alongside our corporate partners, we’ve passed landmark climate laws, secured the state’s first major investment in climatetech, advanced responsibly-developed offshore wind, developed lasting cross-sector partnerships, and so much more.

I will remain a loyal ally and friend to ELM and the ELM Action Fund for many years to come.

With appreciation,

Elizabeth Turnbull Henry

Casey Bowers, Interim President, joined ELM in April of 2018 as Legislative Director. Over her eight years with ELM and the ELM Action Fund, Casey’s leadership and expertise have propelled her into her dual roles as Executive Vice President of Government Relations and Executive Director of the ELM Action Fund. While rarely taking the spotlight, Casey has been a driving force behind ELM’s ability to advance policy that meets the scale and urgency of our environmental challenges. As a key member of ELM’s Leadership Team, she has helped shape the organization’s overall trajectory while leading legislative and political efforts.

“Over the last 9 years, Elizabeth has transformed ELM into a powerhouse for environmental advocacy, working for a sustainable economy and healthy communities. Over that time, she’s hired and promoted an amazing group of people, who are now ready to lead the organization forward, especially the incredibly talented Casey Bowers, who will be taking over as interim president. Since the federal government has vacated so many program areas supporting the environment, Massachusetts must continue to step up. ELM is ready to help the Commonwealth lead the way forward.” – Gordon Burnes, ELM Board Chair