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<p><span style="font-family:'Microsoft Sans Serif';font-size:8pt;">Olivia Kwong</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family:'Microsoft Sans Serif';font-size:8pt;"><span style="font-family:'Microsoft Sans Serif';font-size:8pt;">, </span><span style="font-family:'Microsoft Sans Serif';font-size:8pt;"></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:10pt;">Dear</span><span style="font-family:'Microsoft Sans Serif';font-size:8pt;"> </span><span style="font-family:'Microsoft Sans Serif';font-size:8pt;">Olivia</span><span style="font-family:'Microsoft Sans Serif';font-size:8pt;">,</span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL__WEB_><span style="font-size:10pt;">New England Wild Flower Society is proud to announce the appointment of its new Executive Director Debra Edelstein. Below is the press release and some biographical information on Debbi, who started work today at Society headquarters at Garden in the Woods, Framingham, MA. </span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL__WEB_><span style="font-size:10pt;">Cordially,</span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL__WEB_><span style="font-size:10pt;">Steven Ziglar</span></p>
<p class=NORMAL__WEB_><span style="font-size:10pt;">Marketing and Public Relations Manager</span></p>
<p class=NORMAL__WEB_><span style="font-size:10pt;">New England Wild Flower Society</span></p>
<p class=NORMAL__WEB_><span style="font-size:10pt;">sziglar@newenglandwild.org</span></p>
<p class=NORMAL__WEB_><span style="font-size:10pt;">508-877-7630, ext 3503</span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">Contact: Steven Ziglar</span></p>
<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">   Marketing and Public Relations Manager</span></p>
<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">   508-877-7630, ext. 3503</span></p>
<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">   </span><span class=HYPERLINK style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt; color:#0000FF;"><u>sziglar@newenglandwild.org</u></span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">2/17/09</span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;"><i>News for Immediate Release<br>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:11pt;"><b>Debra Edelstein Joins New England Wild Flower Society as Executive Director</b></span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;"><b>Framingham, MA</b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;"> – New England Wild Flower Society announced today the appointment of Debra Edelstein as its Executive Director. Society Board of Trustees Chair Frances H. Clark stated, “The Board of Trustees is delighted to welcome Debbi as the new leader of New England Wild Flower Society. She brings a deep commitment to conservation and a breadth of experience in managing non-profit organizations. We were impressed by her enthusiasm, expertise, and creativity and voted unanimously for her to lead us in the challenge and excitement of these coming years. The native plants will thrive under her charge.” </span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">Edelstein starts February 17 and will manage the Society’s headquarters and staff at the 45-acre botanical museum Garden in the Woods, Framingham; Nasami Farm and Sanctuary, Whatley; conservation programs; education programs; and ten sanctuaries located throughout New England.</span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">In her most recent position at NESCAUM, the regional organization that provides scientific and policy expertise to the air agencies of the eight Northeastern states, she established a new collaborative effort by the states and the US EPA to reduce diesel emissions, secured $15 million in new project funding, created industry workgroups and multi-state task forces, and organized successful public workshops. </span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">As Vice President and Executive Director of National Audubon Society/Audubon Washington, she published the country’s first “State of the Birds” report, garnered a unanimous legislative vote for a first-in-the-nation state law adopting Audubon’s Important Bird Areas into the Natural Heritage Database used for land use and management decisions on both public and private land, produced the first “State of Environmental Education” report at the request of the Washington legislature, and provided fiscal stability to Audubon Washington.</span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">As Bioreserve Project Manager for The Trustees of Reservations, she led the Trustees’ role in creating the 13,600-acre Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve, the Commonwealth’s largest land-protection project. </span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">She has also been a consultant offering environmental planning, education, and communication services, a marketing director, editor, and writer. She holds a MCP (Master in City Planning) in Environmental Policy and Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an AB in English from Bryn Mawr College. </span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">“We look forward to an exciting, extended period of leadership by Debra Edelstein. She is poised to take the next steps to bring New England Wild Flower Society to even greater heights of national awareness, while realizing our conservation mission, horticultural interests, and educational prowess,” concluded Board of Trustees Chair Clark. </span></p>
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<p class=NORMAL style="line-height: 12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica';font-size:10pt;">Founded in 1900, New England Wild Flower Society is America’s oldest native plant conservation organization, promoting the conservation of temperate North American flora through education, research, horticulture, habitat preservation, and advocacy. The Society’s vision is a future where vigorous native plant populations live in healthy, balanced, natural ecosystems—protected, enjoyed, and beneficial to all life.</span></p>
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