Will Abberger
Conservation Finance Director
Will is Director of TPL's national Conservation Finance Program, helping state and local governments and citizen groups throughout the United States gauge public support for open space and craft ballot measures that generate new sources of funding for land conservation. Will led TPL's efforts to secure approval in 1999 of the Florida Forever Act, the nation's largest legislatively enacted state conservation land acquisition program. He was also actively involved in helping to design and win voter approval in 2008 for the Minnesota Clean Water, Land, and Legacy state constitutional amendment, the nation's largest land conservation ballot measure. He has been directly involved in more than sixty local and state land conservation ballot measures. In his nineteen years with The Trust for Public Land, Will's responsibilities have also included serving as associate director for Conservation Finance in the eastern United States, directing Florida Programs for the Florida Office, directing the Conservation Services program for TPL's nine-state Southeast Region, and directing TPL's Southeast Land Trust program.
Before coming to The Trust for Public Land, he served as Associate with World Wildlife Fund's Successful Communities Program in Washington, D.C.; Field Representative for the Successful Communities Program in Florida, in partnership with 1000 Friends of Florida; and Senior Cabinet Aide for environmental affairs in the Florida Treasurer's office. He is also a former employee of the natural resources unit of the Florida Governor's Office of Planning and Budgeting.
Will received a Master's degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, School of Architecture, where he worked for the University's Institute for Environmental Negotiation, and a B.A. in English from Davidson College.
