The Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, an environmental nonprofit devoted to addressing climate impacts in the Cape & Islands region, today announced that Richard Delaney has been retained as part-time executive director and Dorothy Savarese elected president of the organization’s board of directors.
It also announced a new slate of officers including founding member Fran Schofield and Janet Williams as vice presidents, Maggie Phelan as treasurer and Elizabeth Wade as clerk.
Delaney founded the Climate Collaborative and has served as board president since 2016. Delaney is renowned for environmental work spanning 45 years, including 14 years as president and CEO of the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown where he continues to serve as part-time senior advisor and interim director of the Marine Policy Department.
Previously, Delaney founded the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston; served as Assistant Secretary of Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts; and was National Chair of the Coastal States Organization in Washington D.C. Delaney has consulted to governments in more than 20 countries regarding climate change, coastal and ocean management, capacity building, institutional development, and public outreach, and participated in international conferences such as the Global Ocean Forum, Rio +20 events in Rio de Janeiro, Paris Climate Conference in 2016, and the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. Climate change impacts on coastal communities and oceans will be his major focus with the Climate Collaborative and augment his advisory work with the Center for Coastal Studies and Global Oceans Forum.
Savarese has been a director since 2018 and executive committee member since 2021. She is chair and CEO of Cape Cod 5, a community bank with 26 locations across Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Southeastern Massachusetts. During her 17 years at the helm, she has managed 550 employees, overseen growth of the bank’s assets to over $4.6B and led the institution to regional, state, and national prominence, where it has been recognized as American Banker’s Best Banks to Work and a Top Place to Work by the Boston Globe.
She was recently appointed by Governor Baker to the Commission on Clean Heat. Savarese is the former chair of the Massachusetts Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Board. She was appointed by the Federal Reserve Board to serve as the president of its Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC) for 2021 and 2020. She also served as CDIAC chair for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and was a member of the FDIC’s Advisory Committee on Community Banking.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have two such deeply experienced and widely respected leaders at the helm of our organization. They are the right people at the right time at this critical juncture in the arc of the climate crisis and the life of our organization,” said Schofield. “Rich’s extensive background in climate issues, ocean health and coastal management on the global stage as well as federal, state and regional levels paired with Dorothy’s illustrious track record in organizational management, innovation, strategic planning, and sustainable business practices will help the Climate Collaborative strengthen partnerships, develop strategic alliances, and deepen our effectiveness in the fight to address the climate crisis in this region.”
