WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO
Anchored in Nantucket. Committed to Community.
Our Mission
Our purpose as a non-profit is to promote the health of Nantucket Harbor and its marine ecosystems. We work with the Nantucket Department of Natural Resources and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations, groups and individuals in furtherance of our primary mission and other activities.
Why Create a Foundation?
The harbor has been central to the very fabric of the Nantucket community from the time it was first settled. It is now our turn to be good stewards and help ensure that, on our watch, we leave a fertile marine habitat for future generations.
Because Nantucket is the last surviving commercial scalloping fishery in New England, it is a goal of the Foundation that the work we support preserves a traditional way of life unique to our island culture. We may not be able to rewind the clock to the way things were in centuries past, but we can make a meaningful and measurable difference over the long term in preventing the permanent disappearance of this culture, this ecosystem, and this way of life.
Board of Directors & Scientific Advisors
We are grateful for the support of our scientific advisors with experience in eel grass, water quality, and shellfish population rehabilitation. With their guidance, we are focused on a healthier future for Nantucket Harbor.
Board of Directors
Ed Orenstein, President
Karen Ketterer, Vice President
Chris Brewster, Treasurer
Paul Collins, Clerk
Edward Bernard
Elizabeth Gerstner
Flip Huffard
Jeff Krupa
Melinda Puljic
Joe Smialowski
Alicia Seiger
Brooke Stanton
Lisa van den Born
Elliot Gewirtz, Chairman Emeritus
Executive Director
From Our Chairman Emeritus, Elliot Gewirtz
Since 2018 the Great Harbor Yacht Club’s primary mission has been to improve the health of the Nantucket Harbor and its marine ecosystem. This includes promoting the health of the Nantucket’s iconic but much endangered bay scallop fishery. Nutrient loading from groundwater runoff, fertilizers and the like remains a real issue producing harmful algae blooms and killing off eelgrass so critical to scallop larvae. In just four short decades our waters have experienced a catastrophic loss of eelgrass impacting bay scallop populations in our harbor.
The Foundation continues to fund and identify projects that meaningfully improve the health of the harbor and its marine ecosystem. One such project is the bioswale adjacent to the Club that is designed to prevent untreated nutrient loaded storm run-off from entering the harbor.
The Foundation’s highly regarded Scientific Research Advisors, William D. Du Paul Ph.D., Steve Tettlebach Ph.D., and Robert J. Orth Ph.D. assist the board in vetting proposals and identifying projects deserving funding. Our advisors met with the Town’s Department of Natural Resources in early November 2022 to further this effort.
Over the last three years we have established an endowment in excess of $2.3 million, completely funded by Great Harbor Yacht Club Members. The income from the endowment, combined with the proceeds from annual events, such as the Foundation Cup Regatta & Gala, will support the work of the Foundation.
To date, the Foundation has committed and/or funded over $356,000 in projects, studies, and community outreach. Going forward, we will expand these efforts, especially remediation projects. The needs of Nantucket Harbor are pressing and will benefit our membership and the community at large.
The problem is not one of tomorrow, but a crisis of today. Please join us in answering this critical call for action. To those who have already given, we thank you for your past generosity; it has allowed us to make important first steps that will merit your on-going support. To those who are just discovering the Foundation, we hope that you too will help further our Club’s commitment to giving back to the community by supporting the health of the harbor.