Nearby Nature Milwaukee recently hired a new executive director to run the nonprofit.
Terry Evans is taking on the job a year after the organization temporarily suspended operations and laid off its staff.
Nearby Nature is an environmental advocacy group that works to make the outdoors inclusive and accessible to people of color across Milwaukee.
Evans most recently served as the senior director of the Washington Park branch of the Urban Ecology Center for 10 years.
Lake Effect’s Xcaret Nuñez spoke with Evans about his plans to rebuild the nearly-decade old organization and strengthen its connection to the community.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Xcaret Nuñez: In July, you became Nearby Nature Milwaukee's new executive director. Can you talk about how this opportunity opened up and why you decided to take on the role?
Terry Evans: I think the organization kind of went into hibernation. So everything was dialed back, or not happening, at the organization. So there was tabling still happening, but in terms of staff, in terms of the amount of outreach, the programs and activities that we were doing with the community, that kind of went to a halt before I came. So now, with me being in the role, I've been in the role for roughly five weeks… we're trying to ramp things up. Sometimes, organizations have to take a step back and figure out… what the true vision is for the organization and the mission. When the board decided to move forward is when they decided to post the job. I think it was perfect timing for me. I had done work with Nearby Nature in previous years; When Nearby Nature first started in 2017, not shortly thereafter, I had been working with David, who's the founder of Nearby Nature. So we did some collaborative things at the Urban Ecology Center, where I previously worked.
You were previously the senior branch director of Urban Ecology's Washington Park branch. Before that, you held leadership roles with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. How do you feel your work experience has prepared you to lead nearby nature?
I think every job should prepare you for that next job. And I think that's what each of my jobs has done. And it goes back further than the Department of Corrections. It goes back as far as when I was a Park Worker III with the [Milwaukee County] Parks and working at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center. But I think it started there, where you learn how to work with community, and whether you have a true passion to work with people in whatever capacity it is in. In the jobs I was in… I was seeing all these experiences that people have not had. And I'm thinking about, ‘Where were some of the happiest times, some of the most fruitful times in my life, that helped me to grow and helped me create memories?’ So I think in every job I've done, I've tried to create a memory for people that I've worked with. That led me into this job. That led me to wonder, ‘How can I create an impact and experience for kids and for my community that they won't forget?’ It could be their first experience riding in a canoe, or even litter pickup could be somebody's first experience. But how do you make that experience meaningful so that they're going to remember that, and it's going to affect our community?
What's one way you're hoping to strengthen the organization or something you'd like to address during your first year on the job?
The foundation is big for me — a solid foundation with things in order, from the smallest things like our volunteer applications to the events that we hold. And making sure that the events we hold have meaning to the community and the environmental work that we do. I also have a 30, 60, 90-day plan. I look at that plan every day to see what I’m doing in terms of reaching out to people, reaching out to businesses and reaching out to community partners. That's one boat that I'm in right now. My next boat is: What am I doing to try to bring in money? Because there has to be different streams of money that are coming in for the organization to survive.
