STAFF
Andrea Hogan
Executive Director
A native to upstate New York, Andrea grew up hiking, mountain biking, skiing and sailing – basically living outdoors. After obtaining a BA from William Smith College, she and her husband, Jim, raised their children in the Adirondack Park, far from cities and sidewalks. She found a tremendous amount of satisfaction working as director of a small not for profit, work which ultimately led to positions in town, county and state government.
Vinalhaven became her refuge, and place to recharge. She visited frequently to see Jim, who had taken a job on the island. In 2022, she was delighted by the opportunity to join the VLT team and move to the island full-time.
Land trust work feels like the perfect marriage between the advocacy and public policy work she had been engaged in for decades. As Executive Director, she looks forward to continuing to strengthen partnerships and to work with other organizations with similar missions. She is grateful for chances to engage more deeply with Vinalhaven’s land and people, and to expand environmental educational opportunities for local kids and adults.
She still endeavors to spend as much time as possible out of doors, and you are likely to meet her walking her rescue dogs on one of the islands many beautiful trails.
Thomas Crisp
Stewardship Coordinator
Tom Crisp is a folk artist and Zen practitioner whose artwork revolves around the interrogation of semiotics, mysticism and primitivism. Their artwork can be found throughout the mid-coast area. Professionally, Tom serves as the director of the Maine Jung Center and as the stewardship coordinator for the Vinalhaven Land Trust. A graduate of Colby College.
Tom is also a biographer of John Ignatius Salemi, one of Maine's most prolific outsider artists, and is deeply interested in deliberate living and traditional building techniques, spending much of their time immersed in nature.
Hope Steffens
Programs & Communications Coordinator
A native of Maryland, Hope comes to us from a history background. She has spent the last several years working for state historic sites in North Carolina, as well as a private youth history education company. With these organizations, she interpreted historic homes, and historic gardens and lifeways through educational programs and events.
Most recently, Hope worked on the design and installation of a large exhibit that explored the history of Bath, North Carolina from pre-contact through the 20th century. Through her work in history, Hope developed a fascination with the interaction of cultures and the lands they inhabited.
Recently moving to the island year-round with her husband in 2022, Hope spends her time exploring historical lifeways, sustainable living, and enjoying the woods, trails and rocky coastlines that Vinalhaven provides.
Dani has lived in ten states and abroad, including Florida, California, and Vermont. Her summers were spent visiting National Parks, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and roaming her grandparents’ farm in Southeast Ohio. Moving often and traveling young fostered her love of stories and the diverse landscape of the continental U.S.
At Ohio University, she designed her own degree, The Art of Storytelling, where she discovered the windows and mirrors philosophy—stories as reflections of our own lives and views into others’.
In 2018, Dani began teaching afterschool programs in San Francisco, using this approach to explore cultural celebrations and local ecology. Field trips to Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park, and the Presidio sparked conversations about place, representation, and belonging—along with a first grader’s wisdom: “The future is not a place.” These experiences led her to study Zen and experiential learning, with a focus on restorative justice and ecopsychology.
Dani eventually found her way to Machias, Maine, where she fell in love with the quiet, the craggy coast, and yurts. She spends her free time gardening, paddle boarding in the summer, and reading poetry amongst the trees. Her favorite VLT trail is Lower Mill River!