Bernheim Education Director to Become New Pioneers Executive Director

New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future joyfully announces the appointment of Whitney Wurzel to become Executive Director effective late September, 2019.  Wurzel will continue and build upon New Pioneers’ mission to promote sustainable thinking and sustainable development as initiated 15 years ago by founder and current Executive Director Sister Claire McGowan. 

Whitney Wurzel brings excellent leadership skills and experience to New Pioneers.  Since 2012 she has served as Education Director of Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Clermont, KY and as Youth and Family Programs Manager at Bernheim from 2010 to 2012.  Previously she had served as park ranger or park guide at national parks in South Carolina and South Dakota and as Public Information Coordinator at the South Carolina Energy Office in Columbia, SC.

A native of rural Bullitt County, Wurzel brings to her new position a great love of the rural culture which grounded her youth and a passion for contributing to the sustainability of rural communities. She currently serves as an officer of the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Association for Environmental Education, as a member of the National Association for Environmental Education, and on several Bullitt County boards and committees including the family YMCA, Bullitt County Public Schools, and Chamber of Commerce.

Wurzel earned her undergraduate degree from Queens University of Charlotte, NC, 2005, specializing in environmental writing.  She has completed graduate work in Earth and Environmental Resource Management at the University of South Carolina.  

New Pioneers is a community nonprofit organization founded in Washington County in 2005 to promote sustainable thinking and sustainable development in rural central Kentucky.  Current membership consists of over 500 individuals, families, farms and businesses.  New Pioneers Board of Directors consists of ten members from three counties led by Board President Dr. Anne Harrison of Willisburg. 

McGowan, a Dominican Sister of Peace from the neighboring St. Catharine Motherhouse community in Springfield, will continue to serve as Executive Director until Wurzel’s arrival on Sept. 23.  McGowan will then be employed as Executive Director Emerita until May of 2020 to assist with the transition and complete special projects.

Welcome!

New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future is a community non-profit organization founded in Washington County in 2005 to promote sustainable thinking and sustainable development in order to ensure a healthy, safe, and productive future for all.

Our goal is to engage our community to make choices and plans now that enable those who come after us in this beautiful place to have a wholesome and sustainable quality of life. Our local work is inspired by the Preamble to the International Earth Charter: We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, at a time when humanity must choose its future …

We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

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