ONE THOUSAND FRIENDS OF CONNECTICUT ANNOUNCES CHANGES IN LEADERSHIP

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October 30, 2009 Susan Merrow. 860-537-5302

ONE THOUSAND FRIENDS OF CONNECTICUT ANNOUNCES CHANGES IN LEADERSHIP

The Board of Trustees of 1000 FRIENDS of Connecticut announced today that its President and CEO, Heidi Green, will be taking her leave of that position in late November. Heidi Green has held that position since September of 2005, having come on Board as 1000 Friends’ first full-time staff person. “We have learned and grown so much under Heidi’s guidance these last few years. We will be sad to say goodbye, and we will be working even harder to capitalize on her hard work,” said Susan Merrow, Board Chairperson. “Heidi has put us on the map in the smart growth public policy arena. Her tireless promotion of the principles of rational, sustainable growth, sensible land-use planning, better transportation and tax policies have left their mark on our state, its laws, and policies. We wish her all the best, and we will welcome her back as one of our most valued ‘FRIENDS’,” Merrow continued. The Board of 1000 Friends has begun the process of seeking a new CEO. Heidi Green will be joining the leadership giving staff of Trinity College. 10000 FRIENDS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the principle of smart growth in Connecticut through an educated citizenry and the promotion of sound public policy.

In the last year alone,
• the organization saw legislative success. We helped make it easier to clean up environmentally-contaminated sites, reuse historic mill buildings, finance green developments, and make our streets more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly;
• our Smart Growth Project Evaluation Team endorsed and publicized three smart growth real estate developments: Storrs Center, in Mansfield; 360 State Street in New Haven; and MetroGreen Apartments in Stamford; and
• we gave our first ever award -- the Smartie -- to Smart Growth Champ Tom Condon, indefatigable Hartford Courant columnist and Place Section editor, at our Fourth Annual Meeting.