Traci works closely with Earthworks’ program directors and field teams to communicate with more than 30 foundations and help raise more than $6 million annually in foundation support.
With a strong sense of place, Traci is grateful to work from her home state of West Virginia, where she is restoring the ecological integrity of an abandoned farm, fighting invasive species, and volunteering with a county farmland protection board. She applauds efforts to reimagine Appalachia and finds special joy in music and the sounds of nature. Notably, she led in creating listentoearth.org, a comprehensive database of 5,000 environmental songs.
Traci earned a master’s in Applied Community Change and Conservation from Future Generations University and a bachelor’s in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic. She’s a Morris K. Udall environmental scholar and Thomas J. Watson Fellow with a focus in community radio. She worked for 15 years with an international nonprofit developing community-led breakthroughs in health, conservation, and peacebuilding in such places as Afghanistan, China, India, and Peru. One career achievement was raising a $4 million grant to engage 60 volunteer fire departments across West Virginia in expanding broadband access and computer skills.
Contact:
Email: thickson [at] earthworks [dot] org
Phone: 202-887-1872 ×120
Location: Franklin, WV
