WPF Celebrates Andrew Johnson’s 20 Years of Accomplishment

Dear Colleagues and Friends of the William Penn Foundation:

Today our Board Chair, Janet Haas, and the entire William Penn Foundation staff celebrated Andy Johnson’s 20 years of accomplishments with the Foundation. Andy will be retiring as the founding Program Director of the Watershed Protection Program at the end of this month.

We are grateful for Andy’s many years of outstanding leadership for the Watershed Protection Team. He is undoubtedly the Foundation’s most successful environmental leader in its 75 years of existence. Environmentalists, conservationists, and activists from across the region look to him as one of the most important and thoughtful leaders and strongest advocates for environmental protection in the Greater Philadelphia region. Andy supported and guided the work of many and magnified the reach of his personal impact by empowering and inspiring countless others. Few environmental leaders can say they have had such a singular impact on a region as he has. And the region is very much the better for it.

In addition to the many specific environmental policy and practice wins accomplished under his leadership, Andy is passionate about elevating the identity of the Delaware River Watershed, reinforcing its value and importance in the minds of the people who live in it. Basin-wide coalitions and networks are now organized around the frame of the watershed, local conservation efforts are now conscious of the effect of their work on the larger watershed, the federal government recognizes its importance by awarding funding to support its conservation. A major focus of Andy’s work has also been a relentless campaign to increase public access to our region’s waterways, including the Delaware, the Schuylkill, and the Cooper Rivers, knowing that only if people can see, reach, and recreate on the region’s waterways will they care about protecting them. It is a tremendous legacy.

On a personal note, it has been the great privilege of my professional life to have had the opportunity to work with, learn from, and collaborate with Andy during my entire career at the William Penn Foundation. Along with many others, I have benefitted from the example of Andy’s commitment, diligence, integrity, humility, strategic thinking, and a native son’s passion for the natural areas of our region. I consider myself very fortunate and lucky to have a colleague and friend like Andy Johnson.

Thanks Andy.

-Shawn McCaney