Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
Trustees of Reservations, the state’s largest private landowner, lays off 10% of workforce
Thirty people were laid off, and the Trustees also cut 10 vacant positions, a spokesperson said.
The Trustees of Reservations, a Boston-based preservation and conservation nonprofit, laid off about 10% of their workforce last week, the organization said.
The Trustees operate more than 100 properties across the Commonwealth, including woodlands and parks, museums, campgrounds, gardens, farms, and coastal places. The nonprofit is the largest private landowner in Massachusetts, owning 27,000 acres and holding conservation restrictions on 20,000 more, a spokesperson said.
Some of their sites include Chestnut Hill Farm in Southborough, Coolidge Reservation in Manchester-by-the Sea, Dunes’ Edge Campground in Provincetown, Misery Islands in Salem, World’s End in Hingham, and the Mashpee River Reservation.
Thirty people were laid off, and the Trustees also cut 10 vacant positions, a spokesperson said.
Advertisement:
President and CEO Katie Theoharides announced the layoffs to staff in an email last week and said the nonprofit needs to cut down to combat a multi-million dollar structural deficit in their operating budget.
The layoffs come despite significant growth over the past decade and through the pandemic, when the Trustees expanded their operations and programming.
“We ensured our special places were open and offered the public outdoor experiences to combat the impact of lockdowns and quarantines,” Theoharides wrote. “We ramped up programming and hiring to meet this critical need. And while there is still a great need for our mission to protect special places and connect people to those special places, the operating model we built is not sustainable.”
Advertisement:
Theoharides, who was named president and CEO last summer, also said laid-off employees would receive “industry-leading” severance pay, benefits for another month, and Employee Assistant Program support for three months, and reemployment services.
“The Trustees remain a strong organization with tremendous philanthropic support,” Theoharides wrote. “We will continue to be a preeminent conservation organization in New England. We will continue to be leaders in land conservation, builders of climate resiliency and climate change mitigation initiatives, and great stewards of the special places entrusted to our care.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com