In her role as a Community Development Officer with Island Institute, Brenna works in the Center for Climate and Community, educating communities on climate related issues.

Prior to joining the Institute, Brenna served as the District Environmental Coordinator at Patagonia NYCT, working with staff and community partners to transform retail stores into community activism hubs, as well as managing grantmaking and capacity assistance for more than 100 environmental nonprofits in NY, NJ, and CT. Before Patagonia, she was the assistant director of the Telluride Historical Museum in Colorado and pursued pre-medical studies in New York City, working as a research assistant in emergency medicine, gastroenterology, oncology, and behavioral sciences. She has a B.A and M.A. from Skidmore College, with a concentration in public health and environmental studies.

Growing up in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, she had the best of both worlds: ocean and mountains. After several years in New York City, Brenna is thrilled to return to New England and live on the Maine coast. She and her husband live in Blue Hill with CatDog, their larger-than-life feline. Since moving to Maine, she has enjoyed spending her free time hiking every trail in the Blue Hill Heritage Trust network, cross-country skiing in Acadia, and swimming as often as possible in Blue Hill Bay.