Natural Lands announced on September 14, 2020 the addition of Rayenne A. Chen to its Board of Trustees.
Principal and part of the founding team at Exeter Property Group, Ms. Chen is responsible for raising capital from institutional investors for Exeter’s real estate private equity funds. The firm operates nearly 250 million square feet of properties and ranks among the world’s largest real estate private equity firms. Earlier in her career she held finance roles at other Philadelphia-area real estate firms including Preferred Real Estate, PMC, Lubert-Ader, and Liberty Property Trust.
Prior to her career in real estate, she worked for the Environmental Protection Agency in the emissions credit trading program, and for the management consulting firm Arthur D. Little, where she helped businesses pursue profit-generating and environmental goals simultaneously.
“Rayenne’s real estate expertise and environmental consulting experience—combined with her enthusiasm for Natural Lands’ mission—make her an excellent addition to our board. We are thrilled that she has joined us,” said Peter Hausmann, chairperson.
Ms. Chen’s love for the outdoors can be traced to northern Florida, where she grew up exploring lakes, springs, and rivers. When she moved to Philadelphia in the early 2000s, she was taken by the unique beauty of Pennsylvania’s woods, hills, and fields. But it is the vastness of the Philly suburbs that surprised her most. “I had never lived someplace where I could drive for half a day and still be in the metro area, which for me helped punctuate the importance of open space in this densely populated region.”
A resident of Gladwyne, Ms. Chen is an avid gardener and enjoys adventures with her teenaged daughters, Alice and Catherine. She is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Phillips Exeter Academy.
“Rayenne brings to Natural Lands a perfect combination of professional experience and personal passion,” said Oliver Bass, president of Natural Lands. “Her exposure to and knowledge of the ways varied interests—sustainability and enterprise, open space and development—can co-exist will be especially valuable as Natural Lands continues to manage the impacts of both a changing climate and an evolving economy.”
