Welcome to our four new board members!
As Virginia Conservation Network turned 51 at our Annual Meeting on October 2nd, we also appointed four new board members! As the partnership of 150 conservation organizations in Virginia, VCN is proud that our board members are voted on by our partners.
Our board plays an important role in the conservation community. Board members help drive the strategic direction of the Network in many ways, including voting on all incoming VCN partners and being the final vote on all VCN policy positions. These include all bill positions during the General Assembly session and all policies published in the Common Agenda briefing book.
VCN’s board strives to be fully representative of the Commonwealth and the unique issues facing our natural resources. Specifically, VCN works to have a board that matches the racial and gender demographics of the Commonwealth. In addition, we work to have members that live in each unique region of Virginia. Our board is made up of representatives of our Network as well as long-standing conservation advocates based in Virginia.
To view our full list of board members go to our About Us page.
Pamela Bingham – President, Bingham Consulting Services
Pamela R. Bingham is an engineer/leader/activist who believes in taking the “road less traveled” as evidenced by her history, passionate work in environmental management and public policy and ongoing efforts to diversify science and engineering. Ms. Bingham heads Bingham Consulting Services. She and associates provide project management expertise and comprehensive environmental management and policy solutions that integrate environmental science, engineering, technology, education, and effective community communication and participation.
Ms. Bingham has a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Florida where she has been the only Black woman Student Body President to date. She holds a graduate certificate in business leadership development from Johns Hopkins University with additional study in environmental science and policy. She has nearly 20 years of experience addressing issues such as compliance, environmental justice/health, brownfields redevelopment, and public participation. A native of Jackson, MS, Pamela now lives in Petersburg, VA.
Jeanette Cadwallender – Former President, Garden Club of Virginia
A native of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Jeanette has been an active conservationist and participant in public engagement her entire life. She served as the president of the Garden Club of Virginia from 2014 – 2016. In addition she is an active member of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Washington Heritage Museums and Friends of the Rappahannock. She is the president of the Fredericksburg City Cemetery, a Trustee of the Virginia Historical Society and a member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe.
Jeanette is a graduate of Sweet Briar College. She is the proud mother of three adult children and two grandsons. She enjoys gardening, writing, playing bridge and hiking.
Roberta Kellam – Chair, Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding and Wildlife Programs, Inc
Roberta Kellam is a longtime Virginia conservation advocate with a passion for protecting wildlife and water quality. Most recently, in her role as board chair for Eastern Shore of Virginia Birding and Wildlife Programs, Inc., she worked to ensure that the Commonwealth of Virginia would establish new nesting sites for migratory terns when their habitat was paved over to expand the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.
Roberta served two terms on the Virginia State Water Control Board. In that role, she was a voice for DEQ and Board transparency as she fought for increased water protections for the proposed fracked-gas pipelines and poultry facilities, higher penalties for polluters, and improvements in water quality standards. Prior to her time in Virginia, she was an instructor of environmental law and policy at the University at Buffalo Law School and in private practice in upstate New York. She lives in Northampton County.
Kate Wofford – Executive Director, Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley
Kate has worked with local communities to protect their land and water resources for more than 15 years. She is executive director of Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, a nonprofit that works to sustain the rural landscapes, clean streams and rivers, and thriving communities of the Shenandoah Valley, formed in 2018 from the merger of five long-standing local conservation groups.
Kate served as director of Shenandoah Valley Network from 2009 until 2018. She is the former director of conservation at the Wood River Land Trust in central Idaho. She also worked with woodland owners through Oregon State University’s College of Forestry and with the Henry’s Fork Foundation in eastern Idaho. Kate is an honors graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington and she received a master’s degree in forest science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science in 2002.
Kate is pleased to be a steering committee member for the Choose Clean Water Coalition, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s (CBI) Virginia Working Landscapes and CBI’s Changing Landscapes Initiative. She also serves on the Secretary of Natural Resources’ Chesapeake Bay Stakeholder Advisory Group and is a steering committee and board member for the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA).