Meet Kim
We are very pleased to introduce you to our new Executive Director, Kim Quarty. Kim joins our team as a distinguished professional conservationist and has worked with the Peconic Land Trust since 2008, most recently as the Director of Conservation Planning. We are very excited to have someone of Kim’s caliber join our organization and hope you will be able to meet her soon.
Known for getting results, Kim brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in open space and farmland preservation and not-for-profit management experience. She has a strong background as a paralegal, in real estate and municipal land use. She has served on numerous municipal advisory committees including the East Hampton Community Preservation Advisory Committee which recommends land for purchase through the CPF program and the East Hampton Agricultural Advisory Committee. Kim commented “I hope my background in working with individual land owners, families, religious orders, municipalities, counties, state, and federal entities will be put to good use at Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation. I am so excited to be taking on this new role and look forward to continuing the work to improve Georgica Pond’s water quality.”
Preserving Land
Some of the projects she is most proud of include the work she did with the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood where she developed a phased Master Plan for their 212 acre campus that established sustainable practices, native meadows, agricultural operations, historic preservation, farmland and open space preservation. Right here at Georgica Pond, Kim was involved in both the Georgica Pond Preserve and the Jones Creek Preserve. At the Georgica Pond Preserve located at the headwaters of Talmage Creek, the Trust was able to purchase the property thanks to a very generous donation from FOGP board member Kathy Rayner. After purchasing the property, the old restaurant was demolished, all the old septic tanks and leaching fields that were contributing significant amounts of nitrogen to the pond were removed and the property was restored with native plantings.
Raising Funds
Kim is also an excellent fundraiser. A recent project she is very proud of was a collaboration with the Town of Southampton for 27 acres of farmland in Bridgehampton. The Town contributed $30 million from its CPF fund and Kim and the Trust raised $18 million from neighbors. The project drew the neighbors together and created a deep sense of community where they previously were strangers.
Deep Ties to East Hampton
Kim’s family has strong ties to East Hampton with both sides of her family being born and raised here. Kim and her husband Damon, as well as her other family members have all been married at the First Presbyterian Church of East Hampton where her great-great grandfather, Norris Harkness was once the minister.
You can reach Kim at kim@friendsofgeorgicapond.org