Ben joined the Jefferson Land Trust after a 35-year career in healthcare and technology, having started companies like BabyCenter, Consumer Health Interactive, and Together Senior Health and worked for multinational corporations including Intel and Citrix. Ben currently serves on multiple nonprofit boards, including the Olympic Housing Trust and the Jefferson County Farmers Markets, and is President of the Board for Climate Action Pathways for Schools. Ben is also very involved with the BIPOC community in Jefferson County, including Well Organized and Nourish Beloved Community. Ben has an MBA and a Master’s in Public Health from UC Berkeley and a degree in Political Science from Stanford.
Ben moved to Port Townsend with his wife Suzanne in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic after visiting the region many times over the last twenty years to be closer to their adult children that live in Seattle. Having grown up in the Napa Valley in a small town in an agricultural region, Ben is returning to his roots. Ben also enjoys writing songs and performing as part of a duo called Wilderson. Ben is interested in the Land Trust because he believes owning land and specifically farmland is especially critical for marginalized communities. Malcolm X famously said, “Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality.”