Meet Ginny Ades
Ginny Ades has been nominated for It’s Nice to Know You for several reasons: her years of service to the Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT); her energetic volunteer involvement in a newer nonprofit in Evergreen called EAS+Y; and the more recent development of her own company called Step Ahead, which focuses on evaluating and coaching local and regional businesses about energy conservation.
If you love the beautiful vistas as you drive through the area from Evergreen to Conifer, or go on a hike near the Beaverbrook Watershed, a lot of the credit goes to MALT. MALT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving scenic vistas, natural areas, wildlife habitats and working ranches in the Evergreen, Conifer, Kittridge, Idaho Springs and Georgetown areas. It accomplishes this through facilitated public projects in areas such as Beaverbrook Watershed, Noble Meadow (now part of Elk Meadow) and the Bergen Meadows Natural Trail. It also provides private conservation easements for ranchlands which helps preserve historic areas of natural beauty all around this mountain community.
Ginny volunteered on MALT's first project – to Save Noble Meadow – and later was the Executive Director of MALT from 2000-2004. Subsequently, she served on the Board of Directors for a number of years and was one of several truly dedicated people who helped lead MALT to the importance it holds in our community today. While Executive Director, she was responsible for writing a significant and successful grant proposal to Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) that solidified the multi-year effort to secure the Beaverbrook Watershed.
After her lengthy stint on the MALT board, she got involved in new ways to encourage preservation of our environment and promote sustainable, conservation-focused projects. Ginny is very excited about her recent membership on the Board of Directors with a growing new nonprofit called EAS+Y which stands for Evergreen Alliance for Sustainability. EAS+Y was formed as a nonprofit in 2009 and has as its mission the fostering of sustainable activities and actions by both individuals and businesses in the Evergreen mountain community. You may be familiar with the EAS+Y boxes located around the town that provide a way for people to dispose of old cell phones which are typically not disposed of properly. The group is also offering monthly presentations by notable speakers in environmental sustainability. They also spearheaded a contest to encourage businesses reducing there energy use during the winter season. After Christmas they will be visible recycling natural Christmas trees at the transfer station.
Ginny is also continuing her lifelong theme of promoting environmentally sound practices by consulting with businesses who want to reduce their impact on the environment. She consults with new businesses as they are developing their working spaces and also goes into already existing firms and gives consultation on up-to-date practices that help sustain the environment. Through volunteer activities and her own career focus, Ginny represents the best in individuals who are committed to the environment and who actually develop the expertise to transmit that information to others in a meaningful format.
Ginny and her husband Andy have lived in the Evergreen mountain community for many years and raised their two children here.
