Claire joined our staff as the Community Engagement Coordinator in January 2017 and was promoted to Communications Director in 2020. As the Communications Director, she oversees the Conservancy’s outreach efforts. Claire leads our marketing strategy, manages our digital and print media, fosters community partnerships, and plans engagement initiatives like Earth Week. She also guides the Conservancy’s group of next-generation leaders, the LC Collective.
Claire has 10 years of experience working in communications and project management roles in both the nonprofit and private sectors. Before joining the Conservancy team, Claire worked as the Program Coordinator at the Great Lakes water policy center FLOW (For Love of Water). Her experience also includes editorial work at McGraw-Hill Publishing in Chicago and two terms of AmeriCorps service as a storyteller and conservationist on the Au Sable River. She graduated from Michigan State University, where she studied political science and French. Claire attended the Sorbonne in Paris, France her sophomore year of college.
Claire lives in Traverse City with her rescue pup Izzy and loves everything about living near the water. She fell in love with Leelanau when she visited with her family each summer to camp at the Sleeping Bear Dunes and Manitou Islands. In her free time, you can find her reading, practicing yoga, or spending time outdoors walking the beach, skiing, and paddling.
