Chief Executive Officer

Following a competitive, national search, we are pleased to announce that the Land Trust Alliance has selected Ashley Demosthenes to serve as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 17, 2025. 

“Ashley’s selection was the product of a rigorous, expansive and inclusive process that included some of the most respected leaders from the land trust community, other conservation organizations and the federal government,” said David Calle, vice chair of the Land Trust Alliance board of directors and co-chair of its CEO search committee. “Ashley embodies a deep passion for private land conservation grounded in broad conservation experience and firsthand work with the Alliance, making her the ideal candidate to take over as Alliance CEO.”

Demosthenes started at Lowcountry Land Trust in 2013 as its director of conservation and was elevated to president and CEO in March 2015. While there, she was at the forefront of community-centered conservation, aligned with the land trust’s mission “to protect land and water forever, nurture the relationship between people and place, and connect the community to conservation.” Demosthenes steered the conservation program to achieve a new milestone of 100,000 acres of protected land; as of today, Lowcountry Land Trust has protected more than 163,000 acres. Under her leadership, Demosthenes also oversaw the design and planning for the Angel Oak Preserve — a 44-acre preserve featuring boardwalk trails, a nature play area for children, and educational information about the tree and native people of the region. She broke ground on the Lowcountry Center for Conservation, Lowcountry Land Trust’s new headquarters and a dedicated space for local conservation and community partners to collaborate and to house its education and outreach initiatives.

Before her time at Lowcountry Land Trust, Demosthenes spent 15 years with The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina as its ACE and Savannah River Basins Project Director, as well as the organization’s associate director of land conservation. She is also the co-founder and board chair of the South Carolina Land Trust Network.

The Land Trust Alliance, founded in 1982 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., represents a network of land trusts supported by over 250,000 volunteers and 6.3 million members nationwide. With staff based across the country, the Alliance has a far-reaching impact, ensuring the conservation of our nation’s most cherished lands for the benefit of all.

Read the full announcement here.

Andy Lee and Karen Wilcox led this search with Damla Williams and Madeline Fitzpatrick.