In her childhood dreams, Brenna wanted to be the female Jacques Cousteau, an astronaut, or a World Cup ski racer. Growing up in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, she explored the best of both worlds: the ocean and mountains. After almost two decades of living in New York City, Brenna returned to New England a few years ago.
She is a Community Development Officer with the Island Institute, helping island and coastal residents develop their leadership skills to thrive in a rapidly changing social, economic, and environmental climate.
Before moving to Maine, she was the District Environmental Coordinator for Patagonia NYCT, managing environmental activism, advocacy for staff and customers, grantmaking, and capacity assistance for more than 100 environmental non-profits in NY, NJ, and CT. She and her husband also hosted Rivergigs, an intimate concert and dinner series with jazz, Latin, African, folk, and indie musicians.
Brenna started her career on Capitol Hill and served in Americorps with the Capital Area Food Bank. She turned a winter stint in Colorado into four years, coaching ski racing, teaching outdoor education, and helping to run the Telluride Historical Museum. The allure of medicine drew her to NYC, where she pursued post-baccalaureate pre-medical studies and worked as a research assistant in emergency medicine and various medical labs. She became certified in holistic health coaching on the way to medical school and pivoted to a master's in public health and environmental studies.
She and her husband live, hike, ski, and bike on Wabanaki land in South Portland, Maine. She is excited to serve the families and staff of Hike it Baby.