Our Team
Grace Stranch, Esq.
CEO
Grace joined Harpeth Conservancy as COO in September 2021. As of April 2023, Grace is Harpeth Conservancy’s CEO.
Prior to joining the team, Grace practiced law full time at Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC, now Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, PLLC. She has engaged in environmental work across the world and has over 15 years of experience organizing around environmental issues in Tennessee. As a native Nashvillian, she grew up playing on the Harpeth River and continues to love spending time in nature. Grace received her B.A. in international studies from Rhodes College and her J.D. from University of Tennessee College of Law. Based on her significant community involvement, Grace was honored with the 2020 Athena Young Professional Award and Metro Council Resolution RS220-457 and she was named to the Nashville Bar Foundation’s 2024 class of fellows.
Dorene Bolze
President & Founder
Dorie served for over 20 years as the first Executive Director of Harpeth Conservancy. As of April 2023, Dorie is Harpeth Conservancy’s President and will be focusing her efforts on capacity building and The Dorie Bolze Legacy Fund.
Dorie has over 35 years of work experience in the field of water quality science and policy, conservation policy and biology related to wildlife conservation, energy efficiency, marine fisheries, protected area management, and international wildlife trade. Dorie earned her Masters of Environmental Management degree from the Yale School of Forestry and her B.S. in zoology from Duke University where she was an A.B. Duke Scholar and a Deborah Steer Scholar at the Duke Marine Laboratory. In April 2023, Dorie was recognized as Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence for the Nonprofit Leader category, which honors women who “display high energy and skill in a leadership role at a nonprofit institute or organization.”
Haylee Hall
Director of Development
Haylee Waddey Hall joined Harpeth Conservancy in 2017. Prior to joining the team, Haylee served as Director of Marketing and Development for The Belcourt Theatre, Director of Development and Outreach for Susan G. Komen for the Cure (Middle Tennessee), Marketing Director for Nashville Jet Charters, and Marketing Director for Wildhorse Saloon. She received her B.S. in Business Administration from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Haylee’s love of the Harpeth River stems from growing up canoeing and rope-swinging in it and now cycling and running alongside it.
Anne Passino
Director of Clean Water Protection
Anne joined Harpeth Conservancy in April 2023. Prior to joining the team, Anne practiced law for 15 years, including as a Senior Attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. At SELC, her work primarily focused on water and land use stewardship and enforcing environmental protections through litigation and administrative proceedings. Anne’s love for the outdoors and commitment to achieving a healthy and resilient environment for all has also led her to serve on a range of boards and committees for organizations that work to both protect our natural resources and provide access to justice. Anne received her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from the University of Tennessee.
Ryan Jackwood, Ph.D.
Director of Watershed Science
Ryan joined Harpeth Conservancy in March 2019. He provides strategic direction for our science-based programs and implements restoration priorities based on water quality assessment. Ryan is originally from Ohio where he earned a B.S. degree from Ohio State University and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Toledo researching issues with water quality and harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie. Ryan was awarded the Tennessee Wildlife Federation’s 2024 Water Conservationist of the Year.
Marie Campbell, MDiv
Community Engagement Director
Marie joined Harpeth Conservancy in August 2022. She brings over 15 years of experience mobilizing communities and building organizations that practice economic, racial, and environmental justice in the U.S. South. She has a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University where she focused on culture, ecology, and social movements, and has completed coursework toward a Masters of Conservation Biology from Miami University focusing on grassroots conservation, specifically environmental justice issues related to land, water, and food.
Marie grew up eating tomatoes and okra from her grandpa’s garden on the Coosa River right next to one of Georgia’s “dirtiest” coal-fired power plants, Plant Hammond (now decommissioned). She understands the high cost of industrial pollution and environmental injustice and is passionate about protecting clean water and ecosystems for the rivers, people, and critters of Tennessee.
Katie Maxwell
Operations Manager
Katie joined Harpeth Conservancy in August 2024. She brings experience in organizational change management and nonprofit administration. With a Master’s in Organization Leadership from Seattle University, Katie is excited to bring her passion for teams and systems to Harpeth Conservancy. Although she’s from the Carolinas, Katie moved to Nashville in 2020 by way of the Puget Sound Region in Washington state. She enjoys spending free time in local parks with her family and exploring Greater Nashville’s food scene.
Philanthropy & Membership Manager
Angela joined Harpeth Conservancy in December 2019. She is a longtime community non-profit administrator with more than 20 years of experience in program development. With a B.A. in Sociology from Western Kentucky University, Angela has built a career at multiple nonprofits in Nashville and beyond, including Renewal House, St. Luke’s Community House, and FiftyForward. A Cheatham County native, she was raised on the Harpeth River and loves kayaking, hiking, and being outdoors.
Ryan Robison
Event Coordinator
Ryan joined Harpeth Conservancy in April 2023. Prior to joining the team, Ryan served as the director of festivals and events for various nonprofits including Greater Dolores Action and Montezuma Land Conservancy in western Colorado. While living and working in western Colorado he gained valuable knowledge on the importance of fostering support and working with communities on rural environmental issues like water rights.
Originally from Louisiana, Ryan spent his childhood playing on the water, jumping in puddles, camping with family, and falling in love with nature. He is now falling in love with this beautiful area of the country and in his free time you can catch him outside paddling, running, hiking, or biking in the places he now calls home. He is excited to help Harpeth Conservancy continue spreading the message of the importance of our waterways and the ways in which we can all work together to restore and protect them.
Jess Martin
Communications Coordinator
Jess joined Harpeth Conservancy in October 2023. Although originally from West Virginia, she’s spent the last 18 years residing in diverse corners of the world, primarily across the Middle East and North Africa.
Jess earned her Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from West Virginia University in 2010. She had already been working with several international faith-based nonprofits dedicated to assisting refugees and the most vulnerable communities in Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa prior to this. It was there that she discovered her fervent commitment to making a difference in the lives of people and telling their stories to inspire meaningful change.
Simeon Betapudi
Summer Science Intern
Simeon joined Harpeth Conservancy in May 2023, serving as an intern over the summer. Simeon is a rising Sophomore at Belmont University in Nashville where he is double majoring in Data Science and Public Policy and History while also playing on the Belmont Men’s Soccer team. Simeon is originally from Memphis where he enjoys swimming in the Wolf River and advocating for water rights in the community.
Ben Wilson
Summer Science Intern
Ben Wilson is currently a summer intern with the Harpeth Conservancy. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and spent a lot of time in and around the tributaries of the Chattahoochee River. Ben currently works as a fly-fishing guide for Franklin Fly Fishing company, where he guides trips on the Harpeth, Caney Fork, and Elk Rivers. As well as fly fishing, Ben also enjoys playing music, practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and spending time with his dog, Wendell.
Ben is an avid outdoorsman as well as an environmentalist and is passionate about the relationship between conservation and outdoor recreation. As an angler, he has seen how peoples’ experiences in the sport of fly fishing can lead them down the path of environmental stewardship and conservation. Oftentimes responsible anglers and hunters are on the forefront of conservation, given their vested interest in the resources they utilize.