Margaret Waldock, Dodge’s Environment program director, will leave the Foundation on Sept. 4 to lead and evolve the stewardship and sustainability practices at the nationally recognized Duke Farms.
Margaret will become the executive director of the Hillsborough-based center, a 2,740-acre native landscape for public exploration, outdoor activities, education, and research for ecological sustainability.
“Margaret has not only led our environment program at Dodge for nearly a decade, she has connected Dodge’s work in sustainable water infrastructure to national philanthropic partnerships and co-led the Foundation’s disaster response after Hurricane Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tanuja Dehne, Dodge’s president and CEO. “We are sad to see her go and thrilled that she has found the perfect opportunity to build from her experience in conservation and bring a focus on equity and inclusion to the programming and experience at Duke Farms.”
Since joining Dodge in 2011, Margaret has overseen the distribution of more than $20 million in grants to environmental organizations in New Jersey, most of which provided general operating support to organizations focused on land and water resource protection and stewardship, improving environmental public policy, and supporting community-driven sustainability.
Working with Naeema Campbell, Dodge’s Environment and Informed Communities program associate, Margaret developed a racial equity-focused strategy to increase funding to grassroots organizations working with and reflective of communities of color and low-income White communities and collaborative, cross-sector campaigns and partnerships led by environmental justice leaders, particularly leaders of color.
“I could not be more grateful to and proud of the Dodge Foundation for its legacy of supporting healthy, sustainable communities and its shift to racial equity,” Waldock said. “Duke Farms is an extraordinary opportunity to engage the public and the professional environmental community in developing and implementing solutions for a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future.”
Before Dodge, Waldock was the executive director at Hunterdon Land Trust and also worked at the Trust for Public Land, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the American Farmland Trust. She has served on the steering committee for Jersey Water Works and on affinity groups for the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities’ Urban Water Funders and Council of New Jersey Grantmakers’ Environmental Grantmakers group. She is also on the board of the 1772 Foundation.
“Margaret is an exceptional leader who has helped make Dodge a philanthropic leader supporting the power of community to drive solutions,” said Preston Pinkett III, Dodge’s board chair. “We look forward to intersecting and building our partnership with Margaret through her work at Duke Farms.”
Naeema will support Dodge’s environmental grantees in the fall. Naeema can be reached at ncampbell@grdodge.org.