The Hill Country Land Trust (HCLT), a non-profit land conservation group headquartered in Fredericksburg, Texas, announced today that Martha Zeiher has been named its first executive director, effective January 1, 2014. Ms. Zeiher will coordinate the land trust’s activities in its 19-county area of interest by working with landowners to preserve their property through land easements.“Since achieving accreditation from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission in February of last year, we are committed to adhering to the standards and policies associated with this higher level of service to our landowner-partners. An executive director will help us maintain levels or service and take us to the next level as an organization,” said Katherine Peake, President of HCLT. “The executive director position will allow our all-volunteer board to focus on the land easement process in a more comprehensive way. Martha brings to us a wealth of experience in non-profit leadership, fundraising, and organizational management that is perfectly suited to our small but mighty group.”
Ms. Zeiher comes to HCLT with over eight years of ground-level, land conservation experience at two organizations in California. Martha founded, and was the first president of Ventura Citizens for Hillside Preservation and a founding board member of the Ventura Hillsides Conservancy in Ventura, California where she served on the original board for five years. In addition, Martha was the executive director of Loving Heart Hospice Foundation in Moorpark, California and the Manager of Community Relations for SAGE Publications, in Thousand Oaks, California. Martha received much of her fundraising experience while working in the development departments at University of California, Santa Barbara and California State University Channel Islands, and has a certificate in Non-Profit Management from the Ventura County Community Foundation.
Ms. Zeiher is originally from Bryan/College Station and received a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching degree from Sam Houston State University. She has recently moved to Fredericksburg with her husband to be closer to her extensive family, many of whom live in the Hill Country.
“I’m honored to be selected as the first HCLT Executive Director and I hope that the experience and skills I acquired while in California will translate well to the Texas Hill Country. I plan to use those skills to support the mission and expand the Hill Country Land Trust’s impact in our area,” says Zeiher. Martha Zeiher can be reached at martha@hillcountrylandtrust.org or (830) 997-0027. http://www.hillcountrylandtrust.org