The Nature Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter has announced it has hired Abby Blum as its new associate director of philanthropy.

Blum comes to The Nature Conservancy from Middlebury College’s Office of Advancement, where she served as senior development officer for nearly seven years.

Blum will report to the Conservancy’s chief philanthropy officer for New York and will be responsible for chapter fundraising efforts. She will also serve as a liaison with supporters throughout the region and state. Blum will be based in the Keene Valley office.

Prior to returning to her alma mater in 2013, Blum worked on political campaigns for female candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. As a volunteer, Abby serves on the board of the United Way of Addison County, Vermont, where she recently started her term as Vice Chair.

The Nature Conservancy has been operating in the Adirondacks since 1971, and have protected some 585,000 acres since that time, including Boreas Ponds, Lake Lila, and Lyon Mountain. They also established the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, and have done work assessing road-stream crossings in the Champlain watershed and the status and resiliency of lake trout in the face of climate change.

More information is available on their website.