We’re thrilled to welcome Navarra Carr, who joins our team as Finance Assistant. Navarra is splitting her time in a joint position shared between Jefferson Land Trust and our sister organization in Clallam County, North Olympic Land Trust.
While Navarra will serve as our Finance Assistant, she’ll act as the Administrative Assistant for North Olympic Land Trust. Wearing multiple hats is nothing new to Navarra, who’s looking forward to the opportunity to work with both organizations.
There’s a strong partnership between the two Olympic Peninsula land trusts. Richard Tucker, Jefferson Land Trust’s executive director, and Tom Sanford, North Olympic Land Trust’s executive director, each serves on the other organization’s board of directors. Together, they cultivate opportunities for collaboration between our two land trusts to preserve the farms, fish, and forests across the Olympic Peninsula.
Working together in this way makes sense and has proven effective. Our finance director, Jennifer Calhoun, has successfully shared her time supporting both organizations for almost a year. Now, with Navarra’s arrival, our entire finance department will be shared.
With her innate appreciation for the outdoors and her wealth of skills, the boards and staff at both Jefferson and North Olympic land trusts are thrilled to welcome Navarra to our respective teams.
Leaving behind California’s towering redwoods for the Olympic Peninsula’s own iconic evergreen forests, Navarra is excited to explore a new landscape – something she’s enjoyed doing since childhood.
“My mom’s a botanist and she worked for California state parks, so growing up we spent most of our summers outside,” she said. “Every family vacation was spent outdoors camping and backpacking, which are things I’m really looking forward to doing here.”
After graduating in 2014 from Sacramento State University with her bachelor’s degree in Philosophy with an emphasis in Ethics, Navarra joined AmeriCorps. Her time with AmeriCorps led her to a position with the nonprofit Arcata House Partnership aimed at providing homeless services. While there, she launched and developed the position of office manager and supported the organization’s successful growth from a staff of six to 20.
After nearly three years with Arcata House Partnership in her hometown of Humboldt County, Navarra felt she was ready to move somewhere new and apply her diverse skill set in finance and administration toward a different sector. She was drawn to land conservation. “It just felt like working with the land in some capacity was going to be a good fit,” she said.
“I’m all about partnerships and working collaboratively, so this seems like such a wonderful model. I think it’s going to be a really fun challenge.”
