Blandford Nature Center names Annoesjka Steinman to the post of executive director
The Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids has named Annoesjka Steinman to the post of executive director, with the expressed purpose of leading the 40-year-old organization as a new nonprofit entity in its mission to make the natural world accessible to everyone.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI, September 12, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids has named Annoesjka Steinman to the post of executive director, with the expressed purpose of leading the 40-year-old organization as a new nonprofit entity in its mission to make the natural world accessible to everyone.
The Center's board selected Steinman from a field of more than 60 candidates based on her unique blend of experience and training in the natural sciences and fund and resource development for nonprofit organizations. Steinman resigned from her position as donor services director for the Community Foundation for Muskegon County in Muskegon to assume her position with the Center, effective September 14.
Steinman also serves as a member of the City Council of Norton Shores, a position that she plans to resign to allow her to concentrate solely on the needs of the Center.
Established in 1968, Blandford Nature Center offers a series of walking trails, interpretive center, an animal hospital, a small farm, and programs such as maple syrup gathering for the general public and school systems at its 143-acre site. More than 40,000 students from metropolitan school districts attended field days and programs last year at the center, which encourages people to interact with nature and adopt sustainable practices in everyday life.
"We are extremely pleased to have found someone of Annoesjka's caliber, right here in our own backyard," said Bert Bleke, president of the board at Blandford Nature Center. "The board was impressed with Annoesjka's experience at forming a vision for a nonprofit organization, and then working effectively in a community to make that vision a reality. But Annoesjka also impressed us with her personal stake in the mission of the center through her long-standing love of nature and concern for sustainability issues."
"This is my dream job," said Steinman, 39, who holds a master's degree in biology from Grand Valley State University and served as the founding director of the Mona Lake Watershed Council for nearly five years. "It will allow me to help perpetuate and grow the Center, which I view as a multifaceted jewel for the greater Grand Rapids area. Aside from the organizational needs, the position will utilize my experience in natural resource and land-use management."
A native of the island of Mallorca, Spain, Steinman spent most of her childhood and adult life near Lake Okeechobee, Florida before moving to West Michigan about eight years ago with her husband, Alan, who is director of Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute in Muskegon. She holds a bachelor's degree in natural science from the University of South Florida and worked in the Okeechobee area as an environmental analyst. Since moving to Muskegon, Steinman has served on a number of community and volunteer organizations including the United Way, the Muskegon Area Sustainability Coalition, and the Muskegon County Agricultural Preservation Board.
Bleke said the board felt that Steinman has the optimal mix of natural resources management and donor-related experience to improve the financial situation of the Center, which is facing a shortfall in fiscal 2009. Steinman's position is being funded for five years through a generous donation by the philanthropist Peter Wege and the Wege Foundation, based in Grand Rapids.
Having established itself as an independent nonprofit organization in 2007 after losing dedicated City support, the Center now operates on an annual budget of approximately $500,000. Bleke said that the Center enjoys prominent and very positive name recognition in the greater Grand Rapids area, but it currently suffers from a lack of brand identity as a stand-alone nonprofit organization and a public understanding of how it receives funds.
"The board has stated emphatically that Blandford Nature Center will remain a treasured resource to everyone, mostly free of charge," he said. "As such, our goal now is to provide a substantive and consistent base of funding that will ensure the future of the center for the next 40 years and beyond."
The Interpretive Center at 1715 Hillburn NW is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and its trails are open every day from dawn until dusk, free of charge. In addition to nature center activities, the center also serves as the site of a school for about 60 sixth-grade students, often called the "coolest school" in the Grand Rapids Public School District because of the unique hands-on educational experience and natural, historic-learning environment.
Located at Blandford Nature Center, the classroom is as much in the ponds, streams, woods, and fields as it is in the school building. The curriculum is designed to incorporate the school's natural setting to provide hands-on experiences that fulfill requirements in each subject area. Blandford offers special units of instruction on biology, cartography, computer literacy, rocks and minerals, forestry, Native American culture, the history of pioneers, and so much more. Students also learn how to run their own business by tending to chickens and then marketing and selling eggs.
For more information on this release, background information or photo of Steinman, please contact Matthew Gryczan at SciTech Communications at mgryczan@scitechcommunications.net or call 616.916.8158. For more information on the Blandford Nature Center, please visit http://blandfordnaturecenter.org, email an information request to info@blandfordnaturecenter.org or call the center at 616.735.6240.

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