Leadership

SCA's Leadership Team oversees a  501 (c)3 organization with an annual operating budget of $35 million and staff of approximately 200 who work in the field and in five offices across the country. SCA’s Board of Directors and National Council provide valuable guidance in the governance of our rapidly growing environmental conservation nonprofit.

Dale Penny, President and Chief Executive Officer

Dale has served as President and CEO of SCA since 1997.  He has spent his professional life devoted to advancing the causes of youth development, experiential and outdoor education and intercultural understanding.  Prior to joining SCA, Dale spent more than 20 years with Up With People, the international education and community service program, where he served as President and COO.  He also worked as senior program director of the Colorado Boys Ranch Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving troubled and at-risk youth. Dale received his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University.

Valerie Bailey, Vice President/Strategic Planning and Development

Valerie has 30 years of experience with SCA and has been a member of the leadership group since 1989, including the role of Acting President in 1996 and 1997.  In 2000, Valerie stepped away from SCA for several months to provide organizational development assistance to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.  She returned in December 2000 to establish SCA’s Three Rivers Office in Pittsburgh, PA, which provides services throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  In 2002, Valerie returned to SCA’s National Headquarters to assume the role of Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning and Development.

Valerie has served on several boards including the United Way of Sullivan County, the Fall Mountain Regional School District, the Meeting Waters YMCA and the Conservation Resources Committee of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

Mark Bodin, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Mark joined SCA in 1994 after spending 10 years in corporate financial management positions. Originally SCA’s Chief Financial Officer, Mark now oversees the day to day operations of SCA, including its program, partnership development, fund raising and regional operations.  In his role, Mark travels across the country visiting SCA programs, partners and members.  Prior experiences include management roles at Simon & Schuster Publishing, Paramount Communications and Deloitte and Touche. He received his B.S. degree from the State University of New York at Albany and CPA from New York State.

Mark is the father of two, a Level II certified ski instructor, and is actively involved in his Vermont community including youth sports, scouting and a number of elected civic positions.

Walter Burlack, Regional Director, Three Rivers Office

Wally has served as the Regional Director for the Three Rivers Region and Midwest for over six years. He came to SCA with 15 years of experience in industrial materials and hazardous waste management, including emergency response to hazardous material incidents.  He has extensive expertise in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and has provided education, training, and workshops in these areas for companies and students.  Wally is a Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) certified trainer as well as a State of West Virginia registered mine trainer. He brings his extensive industrial and mining experience to SCA to engage young people in roles to mitigate the past practices of the industrial and mining era through conservation service.

Wally has his Masters in Public Management at the Heinz School, Carnegie Mellon University, building upon a BS in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh.  He is a board member of the Pennsylvania Resources Council, Construction Junction, and the Western PA Regional Environmental Education Center.  He also serves on the advisory boards of Venture Outdoors, Bike Pittsburgh, and Young Preservationist Association, where he serves to conserve and preserve the resources of the natural and built environment.

Robert B. Coates, Vice President for Program

Bob directs all of SCA's conservation service field programming. Formerly, he served as Vice President for Program Development, as the California/Southwest and the Northeast Regional Director, and as Director of SCA’s New Hampshire Conservation Corps.  Prior to working for SCA, Bob worked as a legislative assistant to US Senator Warren B. Rudman in Washington, DC, and he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon, West Africa from 1987-1989.

Bob received his B.A degree from the University of New Hampshire and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the John Kennedy School of Government, at Harvard University.

Reginald "Flip" Hagood, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives

Flip serves as the lead executive for SCA’s strategic initiatives and business development.Additionally, he is the Regional Director of the SCA Mid-Atlantic Southeast Office.  Prior to joining SCA, Flip worked for  the Department of the Interior for 30 years, and in his last position worked for the National Park Service as the Director of Training and Education . Flip is a former member of the Board of Directors for SCA and the Advisory Council for its Diversity Initiative. He currently is a member of the Governing Council of The Wilderness and a Trustee for the National Outdoor Leadership School. He also serves as a Director for the Board of the Institute for Conservation Leadership and the National Association for Interpretation.

Flip received his M.S. degree from NOVA University in Florida and his B.S. Degree from American University in Washington, D.C.  He is a certified Career Counselor and has advanced training and education in the fields of Human Resource Development and Instructional Systems Design.

Kevin Hamilton, Vice President for Marketing and Communications

Kevin is SCA's Vice President for Marketing & Communications, where he directs integrated marketing, strategic communications, brand management, and public relations. He joined SCA in 1999 when he was appointed to pilot SCA's then-new public relations office. Prior to SCA, Kevin was counsel and media relations director for O'Neill Griffin (now Griffin, York & Krause), a leading advertising/communications company in Manchester, NH. For over 12 years, he served a variety of national and regional clients in  finance, health care, retail, and engineering.

Kevin also has 12 years experience as a journalist in New York, Maine, and New Hampshire, earning numerous awards and a regional Emmy nomination for his coverage of the Challenger space shuttle disaster, the NH Presidential Primary, and other events.

A native of New York City, Kevin’s introduction to the outdoors came early during family vacations to Maine.  Eventually, his family moved to New England where he earned a degree at Northeastern, adopted the Red Sox, and discovered the wonders of Baxter State Park.  Today he is married with two step-daughters (one of whom recently served on an SCA trail crew) and two adult children from a previous marriage.  In his spare time, Kevin enjoys photography, hiking, paddling, snowshoeing, music, and anything Scottish.

Kim Henning, Vice President for Human Resources

Kim joined SCA in 1999 as our Director of Human Resources and was promoted to Vice President in 2002.  Kim has 19 years experience in HR and began her career in New York with the Wyatt Company (now Watson Wyatt), followed by Globus & Cosmos (an international touring company) in Denver, Colorado and back to New York with Multimedia Entertainment (the former talk show division of Gannett Co.).  Kim also worked in both Los Angeles and Rochester, NY in the human resources arena before arriving at SCA.  She received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from the College of New Rochelle, Magna Cum Laude and has taken graduate courses in organizational/industrial psychology and counseling.  She is a current member and former board member of the River Valley HR Association, a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and is certified as a SPHR (Senior Professional of Human Resources).

Kim is a native of Charlestown, NH where SCA is headquartered and is married with three young children.  She is involved with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and a former parent’s council member of Partners in Health (a statewide parents group for children with chronic illnesses).  Kim enjoys reading, swimming, watching NFL football, art, and sewing.

Robert D. Holley, Vice President for Advancement

Bob oversees all fundraising for individual, foundation, and corporation support.  Prior to joining SCA, he served as Vice President of Development for The North Carolina Outward Bound School and Director of Development for the Wilderness Society.  He taught environmental education and outdoor leadership courses in both public and private secondary schools, as well as Upward Bound.

Bob received his Ed.M. degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and his B.S. degree from College of the Atlantic.

Jay Satz, Vice President for Western Initiatives

Jay is responsible for building partnerships with agencies in SCA's northwest region, which includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.  He led SCA's Mount Rainier Recovery initiative in response to massive flood damage in western Washington national parks and forests in 2006, which was honored with the Secretary of Interior’s Cooperative Conservation Award in 2008.  Jay is a senior consultant for SCA's risk management program. As a standing member of the National Wilderness Risk Managers Committee since 1995, he is an often-published expert in this field and presents annually at the Wilderness Risk Managers Symposium. He also directed SCA's development of the written curriculum for teaching traditional conservation work skills, which was published by The Mountaineers as the premier trails and conservation restoration manual, Lightly on the Land.

Richard Seaman, Chief Financial Officer

Richard joined SCA as Chief Financial Officer in 2005, after spending 19 years as a bank senior executive and management consultant. Most recently, he was Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Independent Bank Corp/Rockland Trust Company ($2b Boston area commercial bank); Principal, Danielson Associates (troubled bank turnaround specialists); SVP Corporate Development; James Madison Limited (1.5b Washington, DC commercial bank); and Furash & Co. (Bank consultants).  Richard spent the early part of his career with Morgan Stanley and Arthur Andersen.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University and his MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

Richard serves on the Board of the Greater Claremont Chamber of Commerce, is a call firefighter, maple sugarer, graduate of Leadership NH, and father of four.  Richard and his wife, Liza Draper, moved from Boston six years ago and live on Four Meadows Farm with their two younger children.

Mary Margaret Sloan, Interim Northeast Regional Director

Mary Margaret Sloan, Interim Northeast Regional Director and Alumni Director. Mary Margaret has been in the role of SCA’s Alumni Director since 2005 and as of July 2009 has added Northeast Regional Director to her responsibilities. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in English and Sociology and from Villanova University School of Law with a J.D. She was a litigator with a general practice firm for 3 years, then shifted into the nonprofit world, working for a national nonprofit organization, American Hiking Society, for 10 years, the last five of which as president.

Jay Watson, Western Regional Director

Jay joined SCA in November 2004.  His responsibilities duties include program and partnership development, major donor, foundation, and corporate advancement in the West, government relations, media outreach, and staff management.  Prior to joining the staff of SCA, Jay spent nineteen years with The Wilderness Society, fourteen of which were in California, where he was regional director.  His past positions include five years as a wilderness ranger with the U.S. Forest Service in the Trinity Alps Wilderness in northern California and three years as executive director of the Camp Unalayee Association, a non profit wilderness youth camp, also in the Trinity Alps.

Jay serves on the Board of Directors of the California Fire Safe Council and graduated from Humboldt State University with a B.S. in Wildlife Management. Jay and his wife Kathleen live in the Town of Sonoma, and have two sons, Thomas (18) and Charlie (16).

Scott Weaver, Senior Vice President for Government and Agency Affairs

Scott Weaver has spent the last 30 years serving SCA.  Prior to his current position, he served as Vice President of Programs, as Director of the High School and Resource Assistant Programs, and he worked in the field as an SCA Conservation Work Crew Leader.  Before joining SCA, Scott worked for the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park for nine years.

Scott serves on the Advisory Board of American Trails and is a member of the Association of National Park Rangers, the National Parks and Conservation Association, the Yosemite Fund, and the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps.