Welcoming Our New Board Members

Board & staff members of The Landmark Trust USA visit a potential new property

Greetings from southern Vermont where fall, in all its colorful glory, has arrived and the apples and cider are in abundant supply at The Landmark Trust USA’s Scott Farm. It is also the time when some long-standing board members rotate off and new talented individuals agree to join in their place. Board members are the trustees who govern The Landmark Trust USA towards a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies, as well as by making sure the organization has adequate resources to advance our mission. On behalf of the Board and staff members I would like to thank Bill and Patrice Champagne for their long and valued service as Board members over the past decade. Their dedication and hard work has helped mold The Landmark Trust USA into the great organization we have today. I am also pleased to introduce you to two new Landmark Trust USA Board members. The following brief bios will hopefully give you a sense of what areas of expertise the new members bring to our organization.

Claudia Sauermann Wu - Newton, MA
Claudia is an attorney and educator. She consults to nonprofit historic preservation organizations and government agencies, providing advice and facilitation services on historic preservation, board development, and organizational priorities. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Center for Civic Engagement and Service in Newton, MA, a nonpartisan resource on leadership, civics, and service for high school students. At the outset of her career, Claudia served as an Associate in the Real Estate Department of Hale and Dorr (now Wilmer Hale) and later as Senior Legal Liaison in the Northeast Regional Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She is past Board Chair of Preservation Massachusetts and currently serves on a number of nonprofit boards and committees, including The Trustees of Reservations, Historic New England, The Massachusetts Civic Learning Coalition, the National Advisory Councils for The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Strawbery Banke Museum.

Susanne Brendel Pandich - Chappaqua, NY
Susanne is the Co-Director of the Westchester County Historical Society, one of the ten oldest historical societies in the country. Over the course of her career, she has held many history/preservation related positions: Manager of Public Programs for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund at the family’s Kykuit estate in Tarrytown, NY; Executive Director of Filoli, a National Trust Historic Site in Woodside, CA; Director of Lyndhurst National Historic Landmark in Tarrytown, NY; Interim Director of the Glass House National Historic Landmark in New Canaan, CT; and Curator/Manager of the Biltmore Estate National Historic Landmark in Asheville, NC.

We all take our responsibilities as Board members very seriously knowing our work helps the Executive Director and her staff forge ahead with our efforts to expand our property offerings and further our mission to preserve and restore historic properties through creative and sustainable uses for public enjoyment, education and inspiration.

We look forward to seeing you at one of our properties.

Bill Flynt
Board President
The Landmark Trust USA