A Step Back to Leap Forward: Amy Verbeten Steps Down from LegacyWorks Board to Lead Teton Regional Initiative
Amy Verbeten | Photo Credit: Robert Warren
This fall, we are embarking on an exciting transition as Amy Verbeten steps into the role of Teton Regional Initiative Director. She will finish her time as Board Chair of LegacyWorks and her leadership at Friends of Teton River before officially joining us on November 16.
Amy has been a part of LegacyWorks since our inception in the Tetons. As the long-time Executive Director of Friends of Teton River, she played a crucial role in launching our work in the Tetons, beginning with the Teton Creek Collaborative in 2014, our first collaborative initiative.
Michelle Heaton has served as Teton Regional Director since February 2023 and is now stepping into the role of Vice President of Consulting for LegacyWorks Group. She continues to support our work in the Tetons and to play active leadership roles in projects, including the Teton Wellbeing Community Dashboard. "Amy’s visionary leadership and deep insight will undoubtedly enhance this essential regional role, and we eagerly anticipate the positive changes she will bring," said Michelle.
Roots & Early Lessons
Amy Verbeten grew up in Walla Walla, Washington, where her early lessons about land, water, and community were influenced by her time spent on a strawberry farm and fishing trips with her father. Her father, who grew up in Houston, Texas, was not used to activities like fishing, skiing, or hiking. However, moving west profoundly affected him and his young daughter’s relationship with the outdoors. Amy watched her dad fall in love with nature as he learned the art of fly fishing from a colleague and explored their new landscape.
This experience instilled in Amy not only a reverence for wild rivers but also a deep understanding that stewardship is personal, generational, and deeply woven into the fabric of daily life. Her upbringing reinforced her belief that “conservative” and “conservation” share more than a common root. "I thought that conservative and conservation came from the same place. Then I went to college and found out that not everyone believes that," said Amy.
“So what I have done in my conservation career has been to bring those two things (the way people think of conservation in conservative rural communities) back together.”
Leadership & Impact
That early grounding grew into a lifelong commitment to conservation and education. Amy taught leadership and conflict resolution through the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), studied environmental leadership at Prescott College, and eventually found her calling in community-based conservation. For nearly two decades, she led Friends of the Teton River, where she guided collaborative solutions for clean water, healthy streams, and a thriving fishery.
"When I came to work for Friends of the Teton River, that was a big turning point for me... I stepped into this community of farmers and ranchers, and I had to take what I had learned and walk the walk," Amy said.
Along the way, she joined the LegacyWorks Board, serving as Board Chair during a period of rapid growth. She helped steward the organization’s culture of collaboration, ensuring that even as LegacyWorks expanded across regions and initiatives, its core values remained intact.
Deep Connection to Place
The Teton River watershed has always been more than a workplace for Amy; it is home. Here, she experiences daily awe: sandhill cranes calling overhead, the Milky Way stretched across a dark sky, new snow on the Grand Teton at dawn. Beyond the beauty lies something rare: a still-intact ecosystem within the greater Yellowstone region, where people have stewarded the land for generations. For Amy, the combination of ecological wholeness and a community rooted in place makes the valley irreplaceable, inspiring her to continue building bridges among farmers, ranchers, newcomers, and conservationists.
New Chapter
Now, as she moves from LegacyWorks Board Chair to lead the Teton Regional Initiative, Amy brings a deep well of experience, energy, and commitment. She is excited to continue nurturing the strong foundations laid by the Teton team, carry forward collaborative solutions around water and land, and help the region meet challenges with creativity and resilience. “There’s so much energy and momentum here,” she said, “and I’m excited to keep the spiral moving forward.”
As Amy transitions into her new role, we are thrilled to welcome Tim Adams to the board. Tim brings decades of nonprofit leadership in the Tetons, including serving as Executive Director of both the Community Foundation of Teton Valley and Teton Valley Trails and Pathways. He now serves on the Idaho Community Foundation board and supports nonprofits throughout the state on a consulting basis. Tim brings deep local roots and nonprofit leadership and governance expertise to the board, where the Tetons will continue to be well represented.