Our Vision to Sustainable
Conservation

Jerry "Dutch" Van Voorhis

“Forests clean the water, purify the air, heal the soil, anchor the planet, bless the spirit, form nature’s first temples -uplifting us to earth’s heaven.”

Dutch has led the company’s growth through scaling investments by Duke Energy and Norfolk Southern Railway. Prior to joining C2I in 2004, Dutch had a long career in education where he built a culture of equity. He was Vice President of Development for Shenandoah University from 1997-2004 and Headmaster of Chatham Hall, a leading boarding school, from 1981-1997. A notable career in education was also marked by great fundraising gifts.

Dutch has served in recent years on the Advisory Board of the Bank of Clarke County, Berryville Area Development Authority, the Nominating and Executive Committees of The John O. Marsh Institute for Government and Public Policy, The Harry F Byrd, Jr. Business School Board of Advisors, and has been President of Historic Long Branch. He holds an A.B. Degree from The College of William and Mary and M.A.T and M.A. in History at The Johns Hopkins University. At Johns Hopkins, Dutch was mentored by Alfred DuPont Chandler, Jr., America’s leading economic historian. His work in defense studies, particularly the aerospace industry, and its post-World War II conversion, focused on Boeing, Martin, and North American Aviation during a period of rapid technological change in defense management. He worked on the Dwight D. Eisenhower Project and the George C. Marshall multi-volume authorized biography. He is a former board member of Board of the Washington Airports Task Force.

Carey Crane

“If it pays, it stays.”

A longtime conservation expert, Mr. Crane comes from a family that has been active at the top levels of the American conservation movement for over fifty years and has been the lead participant in large public/private partnerships. Mr. Crane was for seven years co-host of GreenWave Radio, a nationally syndicated environmental talk radio show. In 2002, both Mr. Crane and his co-host, Chandler Van Voorhis, received the nation’s most distinguished private conservation award, the ChevronTexaco Conservation Award.

In his capacity as a conservation and environmental expert, Mr. Crane has participated in numerous foundations and non-profit boards over the last twenty-five years. He has served on the Board of the Isaac Walton League, and of the Board of Trustees for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Inger and Walter Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences which is dedicated to the study of river ecosystems. Internationally, Mr. Crane has sat on the Board of Directors of REC (Regional Environmental Centre) Moldova which acts as the bank of conservation in that country. Mr. Crane’s numerous past experiences involved serving as President of his family’s private financial and asset management company, Lochnau, Inc. until 2003 and on various Boards such as D.E.L.T.A. and Tara Wildlife, Inc.

Chandler Van Voorhis

“My parents instilled in me a simple truth — the two greatest joys in life are the tilling of the land and the cultivation of character. One anchors us, and the other elevates us. For centuries, we have understood the tilling the land, but we have only faintly grasped how the cultivating of character deepens the soil of the mind and spirit.”

Chandler Van Voorhis is widely acknowledged as a leading expert in conservation and ecological markets. He has given a recent TEDx Talk, guest lectured at Princeton & Yale, and authored several publications on the emergence of natural capital, including:​

• “The Rise of Natural Capitalism and the New Frontier of Conservation Finance” in the book Wilderness, Wildlands and People: A Partnership for the Planet, published in 2008
• “Finding New Ways to Think About the Environment and Economy” in the book Global Climate Change: A Senior-Level Debate at the Intersection of Economics, Strategy, Technology, Science, Politics, and International Negotiation, published in 1998.

Prior to co-founding C2I, Chandler was co-host of GreenWave Radio, a nationally syndicated radio talk show on the environment and business. In 2002, he was awarded, along with Mr. Crane, the nation’s most distinguished private conservation award, the ChevronTexaco Conservation Award.

Chandler is former President of the Alliance for Environmental Education, an international non-profit that played a key role in getting environmental education in K-8 over the last 30 years. Currently, he serves on the Board of Washington Airports Task Force. He is also a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Kathy Sarich

Kathy is one of those unique individuals who combines analytic expertise with in-depth knowledge of finance, as it applies to corporate growth and project planning. She comes from a business background anchored in large-scale program contracting, as well as small business initiatives.

As a company veteran, she is intimately involved in all aspects of ACRE’s business. In her position, she has oversight responsibility for all matters related to the finances of ACRE Investment and its subsidiaries. She provides its executives and partners with projections on, budgets, cash flow, carbon accounting, program goals, and project status as well as forward-looking corporate planning.

When not at work, Kathy enjoys the countryside in Delaplane, with her horses and husband and faithful dog Zoie.

Avery Hughes

“I love working with people who are preserving the land and creating a benefit at the same time. I’m thrilled to use my education to leave the world a better place.”

Avery is ACRE’s Land Specialist creating maps of our landowner properties and estimating values that benefit them. Born and raised right here in Fauquier County, Virginia, Avery graduated from Emory & Henry College in 2004 with a pre-law degree in Geography. Avery is a wiz at creating maps but adores her husband and three boys (ages 8, 6, and 2.) Avery’s another super talented horse person. She learned to ride at an early age on her grandparent’s farm and went on to the advanced level foxhunting and showing.

John Fennebresque

“Throw a stone into the stream and the ripples that propagate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

ACRE is a pioneer in investments for natural capital formation. The GreenTrees project started over two decades ago has fundamentally shaped the natural capital markets and serves as a prototype for reforestation globally. I joined ACRE to continue and accelerate this tradition by applying my experience to the lessons learned by ACRE’s founders to smartly invest in projects and capabilities that enable the further integration of nature into market capitalism.”

John develops and communicates investment strategy and policies, contributes to business strategy, manages and develops the investment team, supervises and oversees the investment process, establishes processes to ensure compliance with established principles, and makes decisions on asset allocation, and selection of external project and funding partners for the firm’s asset and project portfolios.
John’s experience includes time as a company executive, investment banking, and principal investing. He founded Fennebresque & Co. in 2007, a boutique investment banking firm with significant experience with serving digital and biological technology businesses.

Previously John’s investment banking included McColl Partners (now Deloitte Corporate Finance) – where he was a Partner, Credit Suisse, and Bank of America. John’s company executive experience includes serving as CEO to Gusto Global, LLC, a life sciences business, from 2016 – 2020 and serving as President of ACRE IO, LLC, a digital MRV, analytics and decision support business, since 2022. He also serves on the Investment Committee of EHF Capital, a family office in Charlotte, NC.

John is active in the community and currently serves or has served on the boards of the Nutrition Research Institute at the University of North Carolina, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina and the California Institute for Food and Agricultural Research. Mr. Fennebresque earned a BA in US History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he has served on the Board of Visitors, and an MBA at Columbia Business School in NY, NY.

Our investment and operating culture are aligned and can be concisely captured in another Emerson quote: “common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.”

Gordon Smith

Katie Schaefer

Marcia Degnan

Randy Williams

Anthony Woods

“Swing hard in case you hit it.”

Anthony Woods, Natural Capital Asset Coordinator at ACRE Investment Management, combines practical expertise in land stewardship with a solid academic foundation. With four years of hands-on experience as a gardener for a Northern Virginia landowner, Woods developed a deep understanding of creating optimal conditions for tree and plant growth, monitoring plant health, and conserving local wildlife. This background uniquely positions him to coordinate natural capital assets, where he applies his knowledge to enhance the environmental value of ACRE’s projects.

Anthony holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media Communications from Randolph-Macon College, where he not only sharpened his communication skills but also excelled as a college baseball player. His love for the game persists as a loyal fan of the Washington Nationals. Outside of his professional role, Woods enjoys golfing and playing the bluegrass guitar, reflecting his connection to both the outdoors and the arts. His diverse experiences and passions contribute to his effectiveness in managing and promoting natural capital asset projects ACRE Investment Management.

Andrew Richards

“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.” – Lord Byron.

Andrew Richards grew up on his family’s farm in Delaplane, VA, and learned about the importance of a healthy environment from a young age. Growing up on a farm, his father taught Andrew how a working farm should still be a thriving ecosystem. His father instilled in him the responsibility of being a steward of the land.

Before working for ACRE, Andrew was Regional Sales Manager for a national equine nutrition company covering a five-state territory. Joining the ACRE team in the spring of ’22, Andrew follows his passion for conservation and preservation while connecting with his community.

Andrew enjoys birdwatching, riding horses, and hiking with his hound dog, Blue. He is part of the under forty board at Great Meadow and is a current board member at the Middleburg Tennis Club.

Robert Banner

“I love marrying ecology and economy at ACRE. Everyone wins.”

Rob joined us after 11 years as President of Great Meadow Foundation, a 375-acre equine event park and 501(c)3 non-profit. In his tenure there, he raised more than $5 million to double the park’s size and hosted more than 40 events that drew over 200,000 people through the gates each year. One of his last fundraising projects was with Conservation Plus (a division of ACRE Investment Management,) and it did so well, Rob had to join the team! Combine event management and fundraising with 30 years of publishing national equine magazines like The Chronicle of the Horse, and Rob is uniquely equipped to spread the word to landowners and media outlets alike. He also serves as a Director for the Virginia Horse Industry Board and the Equine Land Conservation Resource. A consummate horseman, Rob foxhunts and showjumps on weekends. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in English.

Steve Burgess

“Trees are my life..”

Steve joined the GreenTrees team in May of 2012 following a 35-year career with the Mississippi Forestry Commission. Steve says, “I had the opportunity to visit several of the GreenTrees projects while working with the State. I was impressed with the 302 cottonwood/302 mixed hardwood concept, using the cottonwoods as trainers. I am fortunate for the opportunity to join forces with GreenTrees to promote this concept to the landowners interested in planting hardwoods in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.”

Steve received a Bachelor’s Degree in Forestry from Mississippi State in 1977. Born and raised in the Mississippi delta, Steve married his junior high sweetheart. They have two children, one son, 36, and one daughter, 25. Bowhunting is his other love, especially hunting the bugling bulls in the Rockies in September.

Bickham Crooks

“Trees not only produce the air we breathe but they are one of nature’s most efficient filters. Trees are one of the most valuable natural resources on our planet.”

Prior to joining Acre Investment in 2019, Bickham has been a forestry consultant since 1989. His primary responsibilities were large-scale forest inventory projects and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and he also was responsible for a variety of other forest management and analytical projects.

Bickham received a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from Louisiana State University in 1988 and has since taken numerous continuing education courses, seminars, short courses, and workshops pertaining to timberland management, GIS, forest technology, and computer science. He is a Registered Forester in Arkansas and Mississippi, holds a LA Real Estate License, and holds a UAS (Drone) Remote Pilot certificate.

He and his wife have five children and two dogs. He is involved with the Boy Scouts of America Troop 65 and youth activities with their local church. He and his two sons are Eagle Scouts.

Will Johnson

“The more clearly we focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we have for its destruction” – Rachel Carson

Will Johnson joined ACRE IO following his graduation from Dartmouth College in 2023 where he earned his BA in environmental studies with a concentration in environmental economics. In his role as a Market Analyst, Will helps contextualize the business case for ACRE IO by leading market research, contributing to strategy development, and coordinating partnerships. Will also brought two years of internship experience with ACRE Investment Management and GreenTrees prior to joining AIO.

Outside of his work at AIO, Will is an active contributor to regional environmental organizations as a frequent guest lecturer and author on topics of conservation and ecology. Regarded as a premier authority on Florida’s birdlife, Will serves as the eBird reviewer for central Florida and administrator for his regional rare bird group. Will is also an accomplished bird and fish illustrationist and has had his artwork featured in multiple national and local publications.

Will is based in Vero Beach, FL and enjoys fishing, diving, and exploring the wild areas of his home state with family and friends.