New staff at Conservation Northwest
Conservation Northwest / Jul 19, 2019 / Our Staff, Work Updates
We’re pleased to introduce our new Development Director, Matthew Brouwer, and our new Finance Director, Deborah Houseworth!
Before we introduce you to our new team members, we’d like to thank our previous Development Director, Leigh Ann Gilmer, for her time and dedication to Conservation Northwest, and congratulate her on her new position as Executive Director of Cascadia Art Museum!
New faces at Conservation Northwest
Matthew Brouwer, Development Director
Where are you from and how long have you lived in the northwest?
Apart from three and a half years in the other Washington (Washington D.C.), I have lived my entire life in Washington state. I was born and raised on ten beautiful acres outside Bellingham, and have spent a cumulative of ten years in Seattle. Whatcom County is an extraordinary place to call home, and I have lots of fond memories growing up hiking, camping, backpacking and fishing as a family in the North Cascades and throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Why conservation northwest? what about this organization appeals to you?
Though I’ve worked most of my career in human services, I have a strong environmental ethic and profound appreciation for the wild, and am excited to make the transition to conservation issues. I am really drawn to Conservation Northwest’s collaborative, pragmatic and science-based approach that creates big wins for conservation, while taking into account the perspectives of many different people and groups invested in the land.
I have a lot of farmers in my extended family and my dad is a hunter (though he’s more of a wandering birder these days), so I appreciate that Conservation Northwest has a big-tent approach that understands many people of widely divergent backgrounds can have a shared interest in the health and restoration of wildlife and wild spaces.
what do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
I moonlight as a performance poet and musician. I enjoy writing, playing saxophone, and musing on the interconnected wonders and perplexities of life as I perambulate through Seattle’s parks and neighborhoods (and the wild hills when I have a chance to get out of the big city). My girlfriend and I got a p-patch this year and we’re pleasantly surprised at the abundance of veggies we’re growing. I also spend a fair share of time attending to the emotional needs of a certain beloved schnauzer poodle named Bijoux.
Who is your environmental hero?
I have a fondness for a lot of the classic writers and poets, folks like Aldo Leopold, John Muir and Gary Snyder. Though today, anyone who plants a seed in their backyard or spends time talking to a bluebird is my hero.
Deborah Houseworth, Finance Director
Where are you from and how long have you lived in the northwest?
I grew up on Long Island in New York state. I migrated here by way of Pennsylvania where I went to college, through Chicago where I met my husband and onto Seattle in 1991 to attend grad school. Since my childhood, the wilderness spaces I have been most drawn to are where the land meets water, whether that be river, lake or ocean.
Why conservation northwest? what about this organization appeals to you?
Conservation Northwest’s focus on preserving wild spaces speaks to my concern that humans need to relate to the earth and respect that we are not the only species that inhabit this planet. Our well-being is interdependent with that of all other living beings. To me, natural space is sacred space, and it is our unfortunate habit to desecrate what is meant to sustain us, only to serve human needs. I am grateful for the ways that Conservation Northwest works to restore the natural order and reclaim habitat for other species’ survival.
what do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Walking by the water’s edge, watching the light change at sunset, swimming, singing, reading, cooking for friends and family, sharing time with my husband and teenage son, laughing at funny movies, and solving intriguing mysteries (my family calls me Sherlock).
Who is your environmental hero?
I read Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” when I was in grade school. I was a kid when her writings began to impact environmental practice, and the power of her voice awed me and helped me to find my own. This continued to grow through my college years, culminating in my Senior Honor’s thesis on Ecological Theology, which was inspired by Matthew Fox’s book, “A Spirituality Named Compassion.” In this book, he links spirituality with a call to work for social and ecological justice. My thesis was an exegesis of the Hebrew Bible’s book of Genesis as an exploration of the directive for human interaction with nature. When understood in historical context, and with careful attention to the original Hebrew and Aramaic, it becomes an inspiration to act as steward rather than conqueror in the manner in which we inhabit the earth.