Cheryl and James Duckworth on the dock at AMC Gorman Chairback Lodge & Cabins.
Cheryl Duckworth has been an Appalachian Mountain Club member since 1992 and a member of the President’s Society since 2008. Originally from New Jersey, Cheryl grew up an avid soccer player and skier. However, she credits her husband, James, for getting her hiking and camping. At the beginning of 2025, Cheryl became the Chair of AMC’s Board of Directors! She explains her motivation for supporting AMC: “Being in the outdoors gives me a sense of awe that helps me feel more connected, more grateful, and more grounded and present. It provides quiet for reflection or a place to commune with friends away from the day-to-day that modern life doesn’t always afford.”
Cheryl, her husband, and their two daughters hike, ski, and climb extensively wherever there are mountains—but the mountains they know the best are the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
This summer, Cheryl and James Duckworth, in partnership with four other generous donors, offered to match all gifts to AMC’s Annual Fund dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $435,000.
That means if you give today, your gift will have double the impact, thanks to a matching gift from Cheryl and other sponsors. If you help us raise $435,000, the Appalachian Mountain Club will receive $870,000 this year to protect outdoor places and connect people to nature from Maine to Virginia. Everybody can join in and make a huge difference.
To tell us more about why she was inspired to sponsor this campaign, Cheryl chatted with Pamela Brown, AMC’s Director of Communications. This conversation has been edited for length.
Pam: I’d love to know what you’re excited to do in the outdoors this summer. What are your plans?
Cheryl: We’re going with some friends up to the Maine Lodges for the first time to do some gravel biking and hiking. We’ll also, of course, hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Pam: You’re the Chair of AMC’s Board of Directors, and you’ve stepped up as the lead sponsor for the summer match campaign. What inspired you to give at this time?
Cheryl: AMC is about making connections: connections personally with the outdoors or with others in the outdoors. It is imperative that we conserve as much as we can and give as many people as possible the opportunity for those connections. Now is the time for people to help organizations like AMC do what they need to do—do what they’re made to do.
Pam: And what is AMC made to do?
Cheryl: Through its facilities and its expertise in connecting people to the outdoors, AMC is uniquely positioned to serve a broad population across a large part of the eastern seaboard.
AMC Little Lyford Lodge and Cabins, Maine Woods, Maine– Photo by Jamie Malcolm Brown.
Pam: In a time of uncertainty around federal funding of conservation initiatives, why is investing in AMC a smart idea?
Cheryl: AMC is an experienced and powerful partner for other organizations to help keep conservation and climate-related work at the forefront of what we do. We are an organization of choice to partner with when it comes to thinking about conservation opportunities. AMC is unique in understanding the habitats within the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions from a conservation standpoint.
Pam: Tell me about a project that you want to cross the finish line this year.
Cheryl: One of the things that I hope happens this year is that AMC continues its conservation work in the Pleasant River headwaters in Maine.
What’s on your conservation wishlist for the year? Make that wish go twice as far with a gift to AMC by August 31.
Maine Woods, Maine– Photo by Isaac Crabtree.