Leigh Youngblood

Leigh Youngblood joined Gather New Haven as Interim Executive Director in January 2023 under an agreement with Interim Management Solutions, a firm that facilitates placement of Interim Executive Directors for nonprofits throughout New England.

Leigh was with the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust in Athol, MA, for over 24 years, growing it from two to 10 staff and instituting many new initiatives.  Leigh Youngblood brings a collaborative and possibility-oriented mindset and more than twenty-five years of nonprofit leadership to Gather New Haven. Her experience includes founding and spinning-off an expanding Americorps program, Terracorps, to an independent 501(c)(3) operating in multiple states. This foundation of excellence resulted in innovations that continue to serve as national models in the field of voluntary land conservation. In 2022, Mount grace received an Excellence Award from the National Land Trust Alliance. Beyond ambitious annual budgets and capital campaigns, Leigh’s community engagement and program leadership resulted in tens of millions of dollars of federal and state program support to local communities.