Dear Friends of Sustainable Nantucket,

It’s been an exciting whirlwind of a first two months here on the job at Sustainable Nantucket, and there’s much to report. The first thing I’d like to say is how honored I feel to be a part of this organization, and how delighted I am at having the opportunity to work with the passionate, committed, and energetic Board of Sustainable Nantucket and Tara Grunwald, SN’s wonderful Development Associate.

When I first came to Nantucket, I fell in love with many aspects of the island. The beauty of its beaches and broad open vistas were major attractions. What kept me here -- the reason I stayed - is the unique quality of life available to us in this special community. Sustainable Nantucket’s focus on preserving and enhancing that quality of life is what drew me to this organization. For me, our mission statement says it all: to preserve the community character of Nantucket while sustaining its economic and environmental vitality.

This mission inspires a vision of Nantucket as a vibrant community with its unique character intact – part of a healthy balanced ecosystem (encompassing both the built environment and the natural environment) and supported by a sound, locally-based economy and a consciously thought-out, well-laid plan for its own, sustainable future.

With that vision in mind, I began work here on Jan 2, 2008– and since then we’ve been very busy laying the groundwork for our 2008 new and existing programs that support our mission; networking and meeting individuals from other non-profits and town government, and working with our Strategic Planning committee on the “long-term, big picture” for the organization.

We have some great programs and initiatives planned for this year, including our Buy Local /Hire Local Program and our second annual Sustainable Nantucket Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market, which will run from June through September. We also have our Sustainable Nantucket Green Council, our budding Sustainable Nantucket Youth Council and we are in the midst of developing an exciting new initiative --a Sustainable Nantucket Car Sharing program-- to support the reduction of traffic congestion and pollution, which is affecting our environment, our quality-of-life and our economy on Nantucket. Please stay tuned for news and updates on each of these programs.

Of course, we couldn’t move forward with any of these initiatives without the generous and steadfast support of our members and volunteers. I want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and appreciation to each of you for all that you have done and are doing to help this organization achieve its goals. I look forward to the coming year, and to growing, learning, and continuing to realize the vision of Sustainable Nantucket with all of you.

Michelle Whelan

Executive Director