About

Mission

ELLA’s mission is to bring together town-appointed members of conservation commissions from across New York’s Lower Hudson Valley to strengthen environmental protection at a regional level through education, cross-boundary communication, and inter-municipal collaboration.

Who We Are

ELLA is a partnership between Teatown Lake Reservation and the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County.

What We Do

ELLA provides a much-needed mechanism for improving communication between towns/villages on regional environmental issues that cross political boundaries.  The more knowledgeable Alliance members become in relevant technical matters and best management practices, the more effective they will be at guiding their town’s zoning and permitting officials and policy decision-makers. ELLA members participate in quarterly training workshops, share lessons learned, and discuss possible collaborations for multi-town solutions to regional environmental issues.

History

The Environmental Leaders Learning Alliance (ELLA), was launched in October 2007 by Teatown Lake Reservation through a grant from three anonymous donors, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program. The Alliance originally brought together members of more than 30 conservation commissions from northern Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, and Rockland counties.

After many years of success, the ELLA program was put on pause. In 2019, with renewed capacity, the program was revived with help from Pace University and the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County.