The Nature Conservancy Appoints New Trustees to Maryland/DC Chapter Board

BETHESDA, MD — The Nature Conservancy in Maryland/DC has appointed two new trustees to its board. The new board members are Jeff Edison of Baltimore and Edward “Ned” Symes III of Chevy Chase, Maryland.

“Jeff and Ned bring valuable perspectives and expertise to the Nature Conservancy as we work to balance development pressures with the protection of the lands and waters for the well-being of animals, plants and people,” said Nathaniel Williams, state director of The Nature Conservancy in Maryland/DC.

Jeff Edison is principal of Phillips Edison & Co., a commercial real estate management firm. Edison moved to Baltimore in 1991 to run Phillips Edison & Co., which buys and renews old shopping centers. The company, which has offices in Baltimore, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City, owns and manages 103 neighborhood and community shopping centers totaling over 12 million square feet in 26 states.

Edison is a graduate of Harvard University’s School of Business Administration and Colgate University, where he studied math and economics. Edison also studied at the London School of Economics. While growing up, Edison enjoyed exploring wilderness areas and parks in the northern Minnesota. Before joining the Maryland/DC chapter’s board of trustees, Edison helped the Conservancy as a volunteer for the Baltimore Campaign Committee, a fundraising advisory group.

“I’m impressed with the Nature Conservancy’s focus on science-based conservation,” Edison said. “The Conservancy has evolved over the years and goes beyond just buying land for conservation and engages both governments and local communities to achieve lasting results.”

Edward “Ned” Symes III, is a founder and executive vice president of Quadel Consulting Corporation. As a boy, Symes’ love of nature developed during treks through the forests and marshes of South Carolina and Delaware. Since 1978, Symes’ company has assisted the government in operating affordable housing programs. He began his affordable housing career with the State of Maryland Community Development Administration. One of his responsibilities was starting up the state of Maryland’s Section 8 Program, including a statewide voucher program and numerous new construction and substantial rehabilitation projects. Mr. Symes holds a Master of Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“I believe in being publicly spirited, in looking beyond our own cabbage patch,” Symes said. “I think The Nature Conservancy also embodies this perspective as an organization. The Conservancy works well at weaving together local land and water protection with a global perspective.”

###

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States—including more than 64,000 acres in Maryland and Washington, DC—and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/maryland.