Staff & Board
Staff
Ted Harrison
President
Ted Harrison founded Commonweal Conservancy in 2003 and Commonweal Communities in 2007; he serves as president of the two organizations. For 17 years, Ted was a senior vice president, southwest regional director, and director of a national conservation development program for the Trust for Public Land (TPL)—one of the nation's leading land conservation organizations. Ted holds bachelor's degrees in anthropology and political science from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2001, Ted pursued post-graduate studies at Harvard University in its Graduate School of Design.
In addition to directing Commonweal Conservancy’s corporate operations, site programming, property management, finance, fundraising, marketing, communications and administration, Ted serves as an ex officio, non-voting member of Commonweal Conservancy's board of directors and a voting member of Commonweal Communities’ board.
Kathrynn L. Drahn
Communications Assistant and Board Assistant Secretary
Kate Drahn supports the president in his fundraising and communications responsibilities, as well as the board of directors in her capacity as assistant board secretary. Before helping to launch Commonweal Conservancy, Kate spent 21 years at the Trust for Public Land. In many roles and capacities, she advanced TPL's transactional, fundraising, public affairs, marketing, and board development work. She holds a B.A. in social science from the University of Redlands and a master's degree in counseling from Southwestern College in Santa Fe.
Board of Directors
Commonweal Conservancy's Board of Directors is composed of four dedicated and deeply experienced individuals. Commonweal’s directors bring a variety of professional skills in real estate development, public financing, corporate finance, open-space acquisition and planning, and nonprofit fundraising. President Ted Harrison serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the board.
Edison (Ted) Buchanan
Chairperson & Vice President
Santa Fe, New Mexico
During his professional career, Ted Buchanan served as managing director and head of real estate investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston. Prior to that, he spent 20 years as managing director in Morgan Stanley's real estate investment banking group and as managing director and co-head of Dean Witter's real estate investment banking group. He has served on the boards of directors of Pioneer Natural Resources Company, MFA Financial, Inc. and Rio Grande School. Ted has been the chair of Commonweal Conservancy's board since the organization’s founding in November 2003.
D. Ernest Cook
Vice Chair & Treasurer
Boston, Massachusetts
After a three-decade career with the Trust for Public Land, Ernest Cook founded Land/Water Associates in 2010 to advise foundations, public park and conservation agencies, and nonprofit organizations on strategies for financing parks and conservation, real estate acquisition, and planning.
During his tenure with TPL, Ernest Cook served as a senior vice president and national programs director. In that capacity, Ernest oversaw the development of several national programs for TPL, including its conservation finance program. Since 1994, this program has aided in the passage of legislation and ballot measures providing more than $90 billion in park and open-space capital funding.
Concurrently with his consulting work with Land/Water Associates, Ernest served as the executive director of the Knobloch Family Foundation, wherein he helped forge large-landscape conservation partnerships on the Gulf Coast and, in Wyoming and Georgia, oversaw the distribution of $8 million in annual grants. Ernest has been vice chairman, secretary, and treasurer of Commonweal Conservancy's board since November 2003.
Marilyn Harris
Secretary
Santa Fe, NM
Marilyn Harris is a New Mexico Real Estate Broker, licensed since 1985. Her professional focus has been management and consulting for small community homeowners’ associations, structuring financial systems, and developing marketing and sales programs. Marilyn has worked extensively with HOA boards of directors, informing and guiding decision-making on behalf of owner groups. A citizen of Santa Fe for 35 years, she raised three children in the community, actively participating in the schools. Marilyn spearheaded a volunteer-taught art program for elementary schools and has served on numerous boards and committees in support of education.
John Hesse
Board Member
Denver, CO
A 20-year veteran of the real estate industry, John Hesse has worked with an array of nonprofits, private family office groups, and public companies in finance, analysis, acquisitions, development, asset management, and sales. Joining Commonweal in 2004, he helped launch the Galisteo Basin Preserve, focusing on real estate planning and development, conservation planning, trail development, and restoration projects. The latter two undertakings were among his favorites.
John separated from Commonweal in 2012, venturing outside the United States to the Cayman Islands. There he worked for Dart Enterprises as vice president of asset management and oversaw budgeting and management of Camana Bay, a walkable, mixed-use master-planned community. After returning to the United States, in 2016 he joined Toll Brothers Inc., a national homebuilder, acquiring land in a series of infill, transit-oriented, and master planned development sites across Colorado. Having experienced the powerful and sometimes dark aspects of US production home building, John left Toll and, in 2022, joined AutoCamp, a startup acquiring and developing glamping sites near national parks and outdoor destination markets.
When AutoCamp halted its new investment activities in early 2023, John began working as a real estate broker and industry advisor for Keller Williams Realty, DTC, in Denver. He rejoined the Commonweal team in December of 2023, excited to contribute his wide-ranging experience and industry insights by serving as a member of the organization’s board of directors.
Ted O. Harrison
President and Ex Officio Board Member
Santa Fe, NM
Ted Harrison is the president of Commonweal Conservancy. Prior to founding Commonweal Conservancy, he served as a senior vice president for the Trust for Public Land. Since 1986, Ted has helped facilitate more than $150 million worth of open space and community-building real estate transactions. These projects range from large-scale urban open space and watershed protection projects to historic preservation and wild lands conservation throughout the Southwest and California. Ted holds a bachelor's degree in political science and anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an advanced management development program degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He served from the board’s inception in November 2003 until 2007 when he became an ex officio member.