At Dogwood Alliance, we’re expanding our horizons, and Patrick Fitzsimmons is just the person to help! Patrick joined Dogwood Alliance as Development Director on March 20th. After a long career with the Red Cross, including several years as Regional CEO, Patrick was ready to apply his considerable marketing and fundraising skills in a new way.

“I had a great career at the Red Cross, but I was looking for a different kind of experience that would still be meaningful work. Luckily, I found Dogwood,” he says.

“Not only does Patrick come from a background of community organizing on environmental issues, but he has a long track record of successful experience fundraising in the South through his many years at the Red Cross,” says Dogwood Executive Director Danna Smith. “He is a great fit for Dogwood, and we are very excited about being able to tap into his passion, experience and talents to build greater capacity to protect the South’s forests from destructive industrial forestry.”

Fitzsimmons has a great deal of volunteer experience with social justice organizations, and sees his work with Dogwood as a natural extension of that. “There’s a tie between how the environment is degraded and how portions of our population are degraded as well. For example, a great deal of forest destruction occurs near communities of poverty, causing harmful environmental effects. Helping people see their connection to the environment is a big part of social justice.”

What excites Fitzsimmons the most about his new post is the opportunity to bring the message of Dogwood to a wider audience and get more people to support the work of protecting Southern forests. “I spent my career helping to protect people from disaster. Now I get to help protect forests from disaster,” he quips.

Contact Patrick and welcome him at [email protected].

Amanda Rodriguez

Amanda is a first generation Cuban American. As a child in West Virginia, she saw first-hand the impact of forest destruction. Now, she helps others support Dogwood Alliance’s vital mission and applies her skills to online and web marketing. A poet, essayist, and fiction writer, Amanda is also the filmmaker of Dogwood’s "Stories Happen in Forests" documentary. She holds a Masters degree from Queens University of Charlotte and a BA from Antioch College. Amanda has been with Dogwood Alliance since 2010.