Peninsula Open Space Trust Appoints New Chair to Board of Directors
March 2, 2005
Susan Ford Dorsey has been named the new chair of the Board of Directors of the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST).
Ms. Dorsey is president and co-founder of the Sand Hill Foundation, which serves communities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. A leading figure in Bay Area philanthropy and community development, she serves on the boards of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Peninsula Community Foundation and Phillips Brooks School.
"As pressures to develop open space in the Bay Area continue to escalate, POST will need to maintain a high level of Board leadership. Susan fits the bill perfectly," said POST President Audrey Rust. "She brings tremendous community and organizational experience to her new role as Board chair, and a strong commitment to keeping our local natural lands rural and wild. We're honored to benefit from Susan's inexhaustible energy, wisdom and guidance."
Prior to running the Sand Hill Foundation, Ms. Dorsey provided strategic consulting services in the healthcare industry, working with clients including University Hospitals of Cleveland, Hospital Corporation of America, and California Healthcare Systems on business development, marketing and strategic planning. She earned a bachelor's degree in cellular biology from the University of California at San Diego and a master's degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Woodside with her husband, Mike Dorsey, and their children.
Ms. Dorsey, whose term as Board chair began in January, has been a POST Board member since 2000. Her first husband, the late Thomas W. Ford, was one of POST's founders and early benefactors. A successful Silicon Valley real estate developer, he introduced Ms. Dorsey to the land trust, and after his death in 1998, she continued her close association with POST.
"One of POST's biggest strengths is being really clear about its mission, sticking to it and not getting distracted," she says. "It's a very well-run organization. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable about the work they do, bringing creativity and expertise about land preservation to the organization. The Board is committed and knowledgeable and they work hard to help the organization achieve its goals."
Ms. Dorsey has been heavily involved in fund raising for POST's $200 million, 20,000-acre Saving the Endangered Coast campaign. "The whole coastal campaign is near and dear to my heart because of my love for the beaches, oceans and shore of the San Mateo Coast," she said. "The juxtaposition of the agricultural fields on the cliffs above the ocean is so dramatic and peaceful and beautiful. To have those fields covered with houses, condos and driveways would be a terrible loss, one that could never be replaced. I think we're all motivated by the fear of losing our beautiful coastline."