Antonia Adezio, President
Garden Conservancy profile
Antonia Adezio helped establish the Garden Conservancy in 1989 to safeguard the country’s most exceptional gardens. Today, she is President of the 5,000 member organization with staff on both coasts, and the Garden Conservancy is considered to be the America’s foremost protector of landscape heritage.
Once an aspiring classical pianist studying at Julliard, Antonia had what she calls “a change of heart” about her career in the early 80s. Rather than perform, she dedicated herself to improving the environment by working in management and fundraising consultation with numerous nonprofit groups. While on staff at the Wave Hill public garden in
There Antonia met Frank Cabot, a passionate gardener and philanthropist who she calls “a man of great ideas and enthusiasm.” Cabot told her as many as two-thirds of the country’s landmark gardens, which had been carefully tended for decades, sometimes over several generations, were already in ruin.
“I knew that something must be done,” Antonia said, “and if Frank were involved it would happen.”
Two years later, Cabot founded the nation’s first organization dedicated to protecting and preserving American gardens, and hired Antonia.
For three months, they called friends and acquaintances around the country to gather advice and financial backing for the budding organization. Within the first year they recruited a 50-member advisory board that raised $50,000 in seed money. Next, they went about building a staff to handle fundraising, research, programming, and more.
Besides leading a staff of 20 employees in Cold Spring, New York, and San Francisco, California, Antonia is often found traveling to meetings with philanthropists and supporters, devoted volunteers, tax and real estate lawyers, and gardening experts. In between, she oversees fundraising and outreach efforts, and attends garden events and lectures organized by the Garden Conservancy.
Antonia is currently a member of the board of directors of the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California; Peckerwood Garden Foundation in Hempstead, Texas; Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring, New York; and Greenwood Gardens, Short Hills, New Jersey.
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