Donna Bissett

Land Trust Program Coordinator

Department: Land Trust Program
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My how time flies! Seems like just yesterday Donna (she/her) started at MCHT as an Administrative Assistant. Before coming to Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Donna worked in customer sales and service and customer retention. Although she loved helping customers and coworkers, she longed for work with more meaning. Enter MCHT. Now, after over 15 years supporting the Land Trust Program, Donna treasures the strong relationships she has built with the staff and volunteers doing critical grassroots land conservation and community programming at Maine’s local land trusts.

Donna lives in Topsham with her partner, Rob Goodenow. Donna and Rob enjoy spending time outside in their beautiful yard, which features a pond and waterfall they built themselves. Even the wildlife thinks it’s pretty sweet – deer, woodchucks, wood and tree frogs, and all manner of birds stop by on their travels for a respite.

Donna has been with MCHT since 2002.

On land conservation: “As a kid, the Maine coast was my sanctuary, my escape, the place where I could be who I really was. I’m a grandparent now, and I see much of the natural world starting to fade away. I’m so grateful organizations like MCHT have had the forethought to put protections in place to curtail that loss. It’s a privilege to spend my working hours supporting this and other organizations that keep our natural world intact for future generations.”

On the job:As Land Trust Program Coordinator, Donna spends much of her time gathering information that will be useful to Maine’s land trust community. She also plans events, learning opportunities, and gatherings for peer exchange for the wonderful staff and volunteers who keep Maine’s 80+ land trusts vital and relevant to our changing world.