Hannah Quimby was born and raised in rural Maine where she learned to tread lightly on the planet from her environmentally active parents. Her love of nature was further nourished at Gould Academy where students were strongly encouraged to explore the surrounding wilderness and art classes were seen as essential to the curriculum. Hannah interwove intense wilderness experiences thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail and paddling the Northern Forest Canoe Trail with her college studies and eventually 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.
Hannah continues to develop her photographic skills as a portraiture, architectural, and wilderness photographer. She currently resides in Portland, Maine and is the Director of Advertising for a local documentary paper, The Blue Room and staff photographer for an orgainc clothing company. Her personal wilderness experiences have imbued her with a deep love and appreciation of the beauty and vulnerability of natural environments and a strong commitment to preserving them for future generations. She currently serves on the board of The Quimby Family Foundation and The Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
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 by becoming a chef. In 1999, Lucas graduated from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School in London and opened his own restaurant on the coast of Maine. Featuring organic and local grown produce, Lucas’s menu was an opportunity to instill an appreciation for the superior flavor of sustainable agriculture as well as the many environmental benefits of eating locally raised seasonal food. He currently resides with his fiancé on a houseboat in Seattle Washington, and is the sommelier at the critically renowned Wild Ginger restaurant. 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 now multimillion dollar company, while continuing to serve on the Board of Directors and helping insure the company maintains its commitment to natural integrity.
With the proceeds of the sale, Roxanne funded two foundations. The first awards grants to nonprofit organization in support of the environment and the arts, and the second, an operation foundation which owns and maintains 70,000 acres of wilderness in the North Woods of Maine. Roxanne is also the cofounder of Maine Woods Forever, a heritage conservation organization dedicated to preserving the spirit and landscape of Maine Woods.
Roxanne also serves on the Board of Directors of Acadia Partners, a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop the Science, Education and Research Center on the former Department of Defense Navy Base within the borders of Acadia National Park.
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 has 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. She has volunteered for American Rivers, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Northwest Environmental Defense Center as Executive Director, Tanzanian Children's Fund, Western Lands Project, and Smith College Class of 1989.
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.
Dick Anderson graduated from the University of Maine in 1957 with a B.S. Degree in Wildlife Conservation. He began his career as a fisheries biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 1957 where he worked until becoming the Executive Director of the Maine Audubon Society in 1969. He was Executive Director of Maine Audubon until 1977. During his tenure at Maine Audubon the present Gisland Farm home of Maine Audubon was developed. During the administration of Governor Joseph Brennan (1980-1987), Anderson served as the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation. From 1987 until his retirement in 1999 he was a partner in the Portland consulting firm of Barton Gingold Eaton and Anderson. During his time at BGE&A he developed the idea of the International Appalachian Trail/Sentier International des Appalaches(IAT/SIA). He now serves as the President of the Maine Chapter IAT/SIA and also as President of the Council of International Appalachian Trails. He has served as a member of the Maine Board of Environmental Protection, Chair of Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund and and presently serves as a Board member of the Coastal Conservation Association-Maine.
Walter A. Anderson was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts where his interest in and ensuing love of geology were encouraged at the high school level by enthusiastic teachers. He acquired a B.S. in geology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, an M.S. in geology at the University of Rochester, N.Y. and a D. Sci at the University of Maine, Orono. Walter’s professional career was highlighted by his tenure of 27 years with the Maine Geological Survey (MGS) where he served as Director and State Geologist. Walter also served on numerous boards and commissions, held faculty status in the University of Maine system, and the Baxter Park Advisory Committee. Walter was especially honored to participate as a field geologist in the National Science Foundation’s Climate Research Program in the dry valleys of the Royal Society Range, Antarctica. Since his retirement from the MGS in 1995, Walter continues his interest and participation in geological and recreational activities and presently serves as a board member of the International Appalachian Trail.