Meet Our Staff | Kaleigh Wilson, Development Assistant

Hello, my name’s Kaleigh Wilson, and I’m the Development Assistant here at the Trust. I first stumbled upon the existence of the Peconic Land Trust in 2021 while researching a way to help return local land to its indigenous stewards. I was grateful to give what I could to the Shinnecock Land Acquisition and Stewardship Fund.

Like other donors to the Trust’s many important missions, I was wooed by the paper communications that sometimes greeted me at my mailbox after long days at work—boasting peaceful scenes of local nature and adorned with the Trust’s ruby scallop emblem. They were just… special. It was always these pieces of snail mail that lingered around the house, held under a fridge magnet or stabbed with a pushpin, receiving my admiring gaze in idle moments, while most others met their recycle bin fate soon after delivery.

Now, as the newest member of the Development Team, I can report that this opportunity aligns concretely with my advocacy for (intersectional) environmentalism. Even more, the organization’s focus on Long Island, where I grew up and currently live, is a clear and tangible asset to my community.

Oftentimes I’m moved when reading the deliberate handwritten notes on each form returned to the Trust with donors’ generous gifts. Statements like, “Land needs protection,” “keep fighting the good fight,” and “land back.” These small missives are some of the many demonstrations of altruistic humanity that the Trust seems to attract, and just the stimuli that motivate me to keep trudging along when data entry feels tedious or overwhelming. After much collaborative effort amongst staff members, they are my hands that now put the final pieces together that, if you’re reading this, you’ve probably been greeted by at your own mailbox. (And if you’re “e-mail only,” in your inbox!)

All this to say…there are many minds behind this thoughtful work, and I’m honored to be one of them.