Where Are They Now? Catching up with former HCT AmeriCorps member Jessica Whritenour

A wonderful parade of talented and dedicated people have spent part of their careers on the Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) team. Their efforts have helped HCT become a leader in creating public-private land conservation partnerships that help sustain Harwich as a livable, vibrant community for current and future generations.

We thought it would be fun to catch up with some of these HCT alums, reminisce about their experiences in Harwich and find out what they’re up to now.

Jessica Whritenour worked with HCT from 2002 to 2003 as a member of AmeriCorps. Barnstable County’s AmeriCorps Cape Cod program provides opportunities for service-minded adults to fulfill a variety of environmental and disaster preparedness needs across the Cape.

The program is dedicated to bringing in skilled young professionals to serve on capacity-building projects for municipal governments and non-profit organizations. These projects focus on natural resource management, disaster preparedness and response, environmental education, and volunteer engagement.

Whritenour now serves as the Executive Director of The 300 Committee Land Trust, a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and preserving natural lands for the citizens of Falmouth.

We reached out to Jessica by email and she was kind enough to thoughtfully respond to questions about her career and her time with HCT:

When were you at HCT and what did you do?

I served as a member of AmeriCorps Cape Cod with HCT from 2002-2003 working on an Open Space Atlas for HCT parcels. I recall visiting the properties to take photographs and visiting the Registry of Deeds to pull copies of the deeds, recorded plan of land, etc. It was a terrific learning experience for me.

Mike Lach was (and still is) HCT’s Executive Director and the office location was with The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts (The Compact) on the second floor of a bank building on 6A in Barnstable Village near the Cape Cod Commission office. It was a terrific environment for me to serve as an AmeriCorps member…enjoyable placement and I learned a lot from Mike and Mark Robinson, Executive Director of The Compact…conservation gurus!

What do you do now?

My current role is as the Executive Director of The 300 Committee (T3C) Land Trust of Falmouth. My work with T3C began in 2010 as T3C’s Administrator. The position was re-titled as Executive Director sometime around 2016 or 2017. My fifteen-year anniversary with T3C was in November 2025. It has been an incredible ride!

We have navigated a lot as an organization. Growth, new staff, wonderful Board members retiring, new Board members learning the ropes. We are blessed with a terrific group of hard-working and visionary Board members, staff members, Committee members, and volunteers.

How did your HCT experience help as you moved on with your career?

I learned about the importance of documenting property conditions, legal records, and having an organized land records system. I learned about the role of land trusts as property stewards and as an entity that conducts transactions to permanently preserve land.

The land management and stewardship projects were an interesting learning experience as well. HCT Trustee Colin Leonard led a boardwalk build project that a small group of AmeriCorps Cape Cod members helped build. We conducted a Blitz Week clean up at Thompson’s Field with a large group of ACCC volunteers, and we tackled some bog clean-up projects. It was a nice variety of parcels that we provided stewardship for.

The experience with HCT and the Compact helped me to gain a pretty good understanding of land trusts: their purpose, how they function, and how they can permanently protect land.

This experience with land preservation, coupled with my interest in design, led me to marry these interests and pursue work in community planning/land use/environmental protection from an urban design perspective. I pursued a master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University in 2004-06 and returned to Cape Cod in 2006 for the position of Assistant Town Planner/Community Preservation for the Town of Falmouth.

This position involved work with the Falmouth Community Preservation Committee (CPC) and the various open space projects that the CPC was supporting. The 300 Committee Land Trust brought numerous land protection projects forward for funding during my tenure with the Falmouth CPC. I gained respect and admiration for the organization and was fortunate to be considered for the role of Administrator in 2010 when the position opened up due to a retirement.

The HCT experience was a pivotal part of my trajectory and I am forever grateful!

Why is preserving nature important to you?

Preserved natural areas are an essential part of our communities. We need preserved natural areas for the health of our communities — for clean water and ecological function and for human health.

Our mental health and connection to nature is a lifelong element for our wellbeing and quality of life. We need to preserve nature for its own sake, and we also need to preserve nature as an essential element of our communities as if our life depends upon it…because it does.

Nature is beautiful and awe-inspiring. Nature humbles us. Nature is worthy of our love, care, and attention. We live in an area that is cherished because of the experience one can have visiting our ponds, beaches, forests, marshes, parks, and farms.

We have made terrific progress as a community of conservationists, and we all have much more work to do for land protection and our perpetual role as stewards. Our communities are behind us and are part of the caretaking team, thank goodness!

—Sign up for HCT eNews, a great way to stay in the loop about exciting HCT events, guided walks and other interesting news.

—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.