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Updated: November 18, 2022

Former Maine resident returns to lead Natural Resources Council

By Renee Cordes

A Chicago-based nonprofit leader who started her career in Maine more than 20 years ago, is returning to the Pine Tree state to lead Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Rebeccah Sanders will start her new role in late January, replacing interim CEO Pete Didisheim.

Portrait photo of Rebeccah Sanders wearing a green blouse.
Courtesy / NRCM
Rebeccah Sanders has been named CEO of Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Sanders brings more than two decades of executive nonprofit management experience, most recently as chief field and strategy officer for National Audubon Society. 

She joined Audubon in 2013 as executive director of the Chicago region, where she extended the organization's reach across five states and increased annual revenue tenfold.

“Rebeccah is a leader who understands the importance of developing deep relationships across the breadth of Maine’s communities," said Ed Simmons, who chairs NRCM's board. "She is ideally positioned to help continue NRCM’s growth at this exciting time for collective work to protect the nature of Maine, especially as we accelerate the transition to a clean energy future."

The Natural Resources Council of Maine, based in Augusta, employs close to 30 staff members and has an annual budget of $3.5 million. 

Before joining National Audubon, Rebeccah was the inaugural executive director of Chicago Cultural Alliance, a coalition of heritage-based community organizations working to leverage community voices for cultural change and to address a broad set of civic issues such as climate change, immigration and community planning.

“NRCM’s inspiring legacy of bringing people together to protect Maine’s natural beauty is a model for the rest of the nation and one of the reasons I’m so excited to lead this organization into the future,” Sanders said.

“A healthy environment and strong sense of community are what make Maine so special," she added. "We can meet the urgency of this moment by bringing many voices to the table to ensure our work is an expression of what Mainers want and value in day-to-day life."

A former Maine resident and frequent visitor, Sanders began her career as the post-secondary coordinator for the federally funded GEAR UP Maine program. The program seeks to help Maine students in grade 7 to 12 succeed in school and enroll in college, and supports students in the first year of their post-secondary experience.

Sanders was unanimously selected by NRCM’s board of directors on Monday as the organization’s next leader.

The former Fulbright scholar earned an undergraduate degree in anthropology and environmental science from University of Notre Dame and a master's degree in environmental and ecological anthropology from University of Georgia.

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