Jen Mathews, Planned & Leadership Giving Officer

Jen brings over thirty years of experience leading business development, fundraising, marketing, and community building efforts for a variety of small businesses, science-based schools, and conservation non-profits. She has served many community volunteer roles within Maine from lake water quality monitoring to board service at the CLC YMCA.

Before joining MCHT, Jen served as Advancement Director for Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership where she facilitated the philanthropic funding to build the first offshore marine field research station in Maine waters and established two legacy giving programs ensuring the longevity of science education on Penobscot Bay. Jen also managed lead gifts for the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ Cultivating Joy! capital campaign, handled publicity for the Grantham Prize for Excellence in Environmental Reporting, and led Coastal Studies for Girls Semester School.

Jen holds a B.A. from USM and a M.Ed. from Endicott College. A transplant from the Boston suburbs, she has called Midcoast Maine home for over thirty years and now lives near Rockport Harbor with an enthusiastic terrier at her feet.

On land conservation: Jen’s early years were largely defined by time exploring the woods and wetlands of the 1200- acre land preserve, Hale Reservation that abutted her suburban backyard. There, she grew to understand not only the environmental significance of conserved resources but also the educational value they provide school children and community groups of all types. She is proud to be working at MCHT helping to promote the multifaceted aspects of conservation.

On the job: Jen helps MCHT donors establish legacy gifts that create lasting philanthropic impacts aligned with their core beliefs and values. Jen’s favorite aspect of her work at MCHT is witnessing, daily, the lasting bond between people and place.