Hannah Quimby was born and raised in rural Maine where she learned to tread lightly on the planet from her environmentally active parents. At Gould Academy, her love of nature was further nourished as students were strongly encouraged to explore the surrounding wilderness and art classes were essential to the curriculum. Hannah interwove her college studies with intense wilderness experiences, like thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and paddling the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, and graduated from Prescott College with a degree in Human Development and Photography. After graduation, Hannah joined the family business and worked with the Sales and Marketing Department of Burt’s Bees Inc., until the company was sold.
Currently residing in San Francisco, Hannah is in the second year of a graduate program studying for her M.A. in Integrative Health. She is working on a thesis that explores how the natural environment influences health status. Her personal wilderness experiences have imbued her with a deep love and appreciation of the beauty and vulnerability of the natural environment and she is committed to preserving them for future generations. Hannah currently serves on the board of the Quimby Family Foundation and spends most of her free time studying, exploring the bay area, taking pictures, running in Golden Gate Park, and going to hear as much live music as possible.
Lucas St Clair was born with his twin sister Hannah, in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. Their childhood was spent in a hand-built log cabin with few amenities and a focus on living in harmony with nature. Lucas credits his childhood and his many wilderness experiences at Gould Academy with instilling a loving respect and intimate knowledge of the natural environment. After graduating in 1996, Lucas immersed himself in outdoor wilderness adventures; hiking the Appalachian Trail, paddling the North Forest Canoe Trail, and fine tuning his survival skills with the National Outdoor Leadership School during a challenging semester in Patagonia.
Always appreciative of the bounty of Mother Nature, Lucas pursued his interest in organic and sustainable food and graduated from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School in London. He has worked in the food and wine industry for over ten years. Lucas is an avid fly fisherman and mountain climber and makes as much time for the out of doors as possible. He currently resides in Seattle with his wife Yemaya and works as a wine merchant. Lucas continues his environmental advocacy by leading annual wilderness training at Gould Academy and serving on the board of The Quimby Family Foundation
Born mid-century in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Roxanne Quimby developed an early passion for the arts and nature that was to become the central theme of her future business and social philosophy. In 1975, after receiving her BFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, Roxanne moved to a small town in central Maine, where she used her life savings to buy her first 30 acres of woods. She built a small cabin where she and her twins, Hannah and Lucas, lived in harmony with nature for almost fifteen years without electricity, running water or other modern conveniences.
In 1989, Roxanne and her partner Burt, a beekeeper and refugee from New York, started Burt's Bees, a cottage industry which quickly evolved into an internationally renowned personal care company with a core commitment to pure ingredients, naturally efficacious formulas and earth-friendly packaging. In 2003, Roxanne sold the multimillion dollar company.
With the proceeds of the sale, Roxanne funded two foundations. The first awards grants to nonprofit organizations in support of the environment and the arts, and the second, an operating foundation which owns and maintains 120,000 acres of wilderness in the North Woods of Maine. Roxanne also serves as the founding director of the Quimby Colony, an artist in residence program located in Portland Maine, and in the summer of 2010, was honored to be appointed to the National Park Foundation by its Chairman, Kenneth Salazar, Secretary of the Department of the Interior.
Roxanne’s most stunning achievement, in her opinion, was her ascent of Mt Katahdin in August of 2010.
Rachelle Quimby was born in Akron, Ohio. Growing up she lived all over the Northeast and Midwest. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Hotel Administration in 1975. While at Cornell University, she participated in a one semester internship in San Francisco at the Hotel St. Francis. She moved to San Francisco after graduation to work again for the Hotel St. Francis. Two years later she enrolled in a graduate program and in 1979 earned an M.B.A. in Finance from San Francisco State University. Her work experience included hotels and finance companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. She left the business world in 1991. Seven years later she started to work again. This time it was for Burt’s Bees, Inc. where she worked until the company was sold in 2003.
Rachelle has traveled to many countries. Her most memorable travel was two years spent living in Central and South America with just the contents of a large duffel bag. This “living with less” lifestyle resonated with her and upon returning to the US, she continued to live a simple life. Almost 20 years later, she continues to find her environmental passion rooted in simplicity.
Her most meaningful outdoor experience was a 4,002 mile bicycle adventure in 2000 covering all of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia.
Her favorite pastimes include pilates, volunteering at a thrift shop in Marin County, bhakti yoga, reading, attending the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, and the San Francisco Ballet.
She currently lives in San Francisco just a short walk from the spectacular Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
For Rachelle it is gift to serve on the Board of Directors of the Quimby Family Foundation with its mission to advance wilderness values and to increase access to the arts in Maine.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Liane Judd’s youth was shaped by her family, friends, and the vibrant counter culture that fueled art, music, and politics of the 60s and 70s. The redwood forests of coastal northern California became her spiritual homeland, and she spent many hours hiking in and around Mendocino.
Liane launched her career in graphic design upon graduation from the University of California, Berkeley, in San Francisco, where she supervised design departments for a number of companies before moving to Boston. As design manager at Fidelity Investments, she became active in the design community and contributed to a variety of pro bono projects supporting arts organizations in the greater Boston area.
Liane married a Mainer and they decamped to Lawrence, Kansas, where she taught at the University of Kansas, and where their daughter was born. However, the waving of the wheat was no substitute for large bodies of salt water and the great piney woods, so they returned to Maine. Liane established and manages Packard Judd Kaye Strategic Marketing Group, in Bangor. She has presented her work nationally at events sponsored by clients, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities, and has served on a number of regional committees devoted to community economic development and advancement of the arts.
Passionate about quality healthcare and education, Liane is vice chair of the Board of Trustees of Eastern Maine Medical Center, and former member of the Old Town School Board.
Andres Verzosa is a native of Portland, Maine. As a graduate of the state’s university system and the Maine College of Art, Verzosa is devoted to expanding the visibility and presence of Maine’s artists and arts culture.
In 2000, Verzosa founded Aucocisco Galleries. Named after the Abenaki word for Casco Bay, Aucocisco has quickly become not only one of the most successful contemporary art galleries in the state, but also one of the most critically revered.
While Aucocisco represents some of the most respected contemporary artists in Maine—including Dozier Bell, Katherine Bradford, Grace DeGennaro, Richard Lethem, and Michael Lewis—as the gallery’s director, Verzosa is passionate about recognizing and nurturing up-and-coming artists. At present, Aucocisco is proud to include Nicole Duennebier, Lauren Fensterstock, Hilary Irons, and Christopher Keister in its stable of artists. By pairing these young talents with the work of recognized masters, Verzosa is broadening the audience of both while also helping build a sustainable arts scene.
Since 2005, Verzosa has administered the estate of post-modernist hero, Bernard Langlais. In addition to building a partnership with Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers to showcase Langlais’ art, Verzosa has organized notable exhibitions of the artist’s work at the Addison Museum of American Art, Colby College Art Museum, University of Maine Museum of Art, Art Gallery of the City of St. John, Bates College Museum of Art and the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.
In addition to Verzosa’s work with Aucocisco, he is committed to community building around the arts. Verzosa is a co-founder of Portland’s First Friday Art Walk, and a past president of the Portland Arts and Cultural Alliance (PACA).
Verzosa commutes to his Old Port gallery from his home on Peaks Island.
Rebecca Rundquist was not born in the woods or near the ocean. She was raised in the suburbs of New Jersey and spent a great deal of time in the vacant wooded lot behind her house building forts and climbing trees with her brother and three sisters. Her summers spent in Maine with her large family created a love for the state that has never diminished even though her work and education have brought her to many other places.
Rebecca graduated from Smith College with a focus on Art History and Government. She spent a year abroad in Paris and traveled throughout Europe. Although she loves art and art history, her reverence for the environment and recognition that enough was not being done to protect it while working for a year in our Nation's capitol compelled her to leave Washington D.C. and go to law school.
In 1994 Rebecca graduated from Lewis and Clark, Northwestern School of Law in Portland, Oregon with a certificate in Environmental Law. As an attorney, she has worked on a variety of environmental and conservation issues (and continued art classes whenever possible). Rebecca also attended the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and graduated with a Master's of Environmental Management in 2002. She is honored to help the Quimby family recognize groups and individuals for their commitment to promoting artistic expression and protecting wilderness.
Liliane Willens, an ex-officio member of the Quimby Family Foundation, gives the keynote address at the yearly ceremony when grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations in Maine.
Liliane was born in China where she studied at a French government school in Shanghai. She holds a Ph.D. in French literature and language from Boston University and taught at Boston College and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later, her career in Washington, DC included U.S. government assignments overseas with the Agency for International Development and the Peace Corps.
Having seen forests denuded and flora and fauna destroyed in some countries by mismanagement and projects, Liliane adheres fully to the Quimby Family Foundation two-fold mission to protect the environment and promote art in Maine with the help of nonprofit organizations.
Read Lily's speech to the 2007 Quimby Family Foundation Grantee Awards luncheon. Read her 2008 Keynote Speech. Read her 2009 Keynote Speech.
Jed Rathband is a native of Mystic, Connecticut. He now resides in Portland where he is the founder and principal of Stone’s Throw Consulting, a full-service public relations company. Jed’s work has brought him all over Maine and beyond, with a wide array of clients from small business and tax issues, to environmental, and labor matters, including conservation, energy and land use regulations.
Jed’s interests are as varied as his consulting practice. He enjoys living in a small city and taking advantage of all Portland’s eclectic offerings. He is an advisory board member to Greater Portland Landmarks, helping with historic preservation as well as advocating for quality new development. Jed has been involved in many development projects, both on a personal and professional level and plays an active role in the re-development of his own neighborhood, East Bayside, the most diverse neighborhood in Northern New England.
Always an advocate for a better City, Jed is currently running a campaign to create an elected mayor in Portland.
Before moving to Portland, Jed lived in San Francisco, California for eight years, and Bozeman, Montana attending Montana State University before that. He completed his bachelor’s degree from the New College of California in 2000.
Jed is eager to participate on the Quimby Family Foundation board and share his desire to create a vibrant arts, educational, and cultural landscape for Maine.