Member Notices
As an AMC member, you have a voice in how we grow and lead.
Member notices include important updates about Board elections, proxy ballots, our Annual Meeting, and other ways you can shape AMC’s direction. By participating, you help ensure our future reflects the values and voices of this community.
Member Voting
Each year, Appalachian Mountain Club members in good standing have the opportunity to elect members of AMC’s Board of Directors and vote on other business brought before the membership at our Annual Business Meeting.
Board of Directors Slate
AMC’s Nominating and Governance Committee is dedicated to transparency in its work and strives for a diverse pool of candidates for volunteer leadership positions that reflects our membership, mission, and region. Members are invited to send recommendations for Board of Directors candidates to nominations@outdoors.org for the committee’s consideration.
Tom Flahive
Tom Flahive is a Managing Partner of CrossBoundary Group, an investment firm focused on unlocking capital for sustainable growth in underserved markets. His work has taken him across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia, including leading CrossBoundary’s early work in South Sudan while based in Juba. Tom holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
A New Hampshire native and longtime AMC member, Tom has been hiking and visiting AMC’s huts since childhood. He now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two young daughters.
Sarah Iselin
A long-time AMC member and supporter, Sarah loves hiking and skiing everywhere -- but especially in New England. No matter how steep the trail, she finds her blood pressure drops, her pulse slows and her perspective widens when she’s in the mountains. As president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Sarah oversees the state’s leading nonprofit health plan, serving 3 million members. Her three-decade career in healthcare includes leadership roles at public and private companies, foundations and state agencies, always with a focus on affordability, quality and equity of care. She sits on the boards of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Boston Green Ribbon Commission, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, National Institute for Health Care Management, and Solis Mammography. Sarah received her Master of Science degree in health policy and management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She's the proud mother of three young adults who live in various parts of North America.
Gillian King
Community Director Nominee
A native New Yorker, Gillian King is a long-time camper at AMC’s Three Mile Island on Lake Winnipesaukee and has served as the Committee Treasure and Chair. She first visited the Island after her husband, Jamie, and two young daughters insisted on a stay after a day trip with their paternal grandparents. She never looked back.
Gillian is retired from Hamilton College where she was the Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees. Prior to joining Hamilton College, she worked for 25 years in executive level finance roles for Accenture (formerly Anderson Consulting) and IBM, primarily in the greater New York City area. Her professional interest is project and process management and she will focus on some of the AMC’s volunteer unties while serving on the Board. She holds a BS from Skidmore College and an MBA from Cornell University. She and her husband recently moved to Vero Beach Florida and they spend the summer months in the New Hampshire lakes region where her mother-in-law operates an alpaca farm
An avid tennis and pickleball player, Gill likes to spend as much time outdoors as possible and has enjoyed hiking for most of her adult life. Away from the trails and courts, she is an avid reader who also has a jigsaw puzzle underway at all times.
Cheryl Duckworth
Chair
Cheryl has been an AMC member since 1992 and a member of the President’s Society since 2008. She served on the Investment Committee from 2009-2013 prior to moving to Singapore for five years and rejoined the Committee in 2019 upon her return to the Boston area. Cheryl is a retired partner at Wellington Management, having held several roles across the investment and client teams over the last 30 years. Originally from New Jersey, Cheryl grew up an avid soccer player and skier. However, she credits her husband for getting her hiking and camping. She, her husband, and her two daughters hike, ski, and climb extensively wherever there are mountains, including some very far-flung locations during their time in Singapore, but the mountains they know the best are the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Rich Batiuk
Vice Chair
An AMC member for many years, Rich has been the Potomac Chapter Treasurer, served on the Potomac Chapter Executive Committee as the chapter’s Paddling Committee chair, and is an AMC-certified paddling and hiking leader. Prior to his retirement, Rich was the Associate Director for Science, Analysis, and Implementation at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office located in Annapolis, Maryland. There, he led the integration of science into multi-partner policy-making and collaborative decision-making. Rich is a co-founder of CoastWise, providing pro-bono help with the development and implementation of collaborative watershed management strategies to over 80 agencies and organizations all around the world. On the AMC Board, in addition to being the Vice Chair nominee and serving as Regional Director, South, Rich chairs the Conservation Programs Committee and serves on the Finance Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Rich is also an active member of Chesapeake Conservancy’s Board of Directors. Rich received his B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of New Hampshire in 1984 and M.S. in Environmental Toxicology from American University in Washington D.C. in 1985. Rich lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife, Susan, and enjoys fly fishing, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, camping, backpacking, bird watching, trail building and maintenance, and traveling.
Kathy Campbell
Vice Chair and Treasurer
Kathy has been a member of AMC since 2001 and served as on AMC’s Board of Advisors from 2019 until she became a member of its Board of Directors in 2022. She has served as Treasurer for the past two years. In addition to chairing the Finance Committee, Kathy also sits on the Investment, Development, DEI, and Conservation committees. Kathy is also a member of the Potomac Chapter and has served as its secretary, Conservation Chair, and DEI chapter rep. After a 37-year International Finance career with an energy firm that took her around the globe, she became an entrepreneur. In 2017 she started KT Coaching Partners, a leadership coaching firm. She utilizes her cross-cultural team building skills and transition management skills to assist clients in expanding their thinking about what is possible. Kathy loves hiking, kayaking, biking, and skiing. She holds a business degree from Northeastern University and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago.
Secretary
Per AMC Bylaws, the secretary is appointed by the Board of Directors in their first meeting of the year, rather than elected by the AMC membership.
Proposed Updates to the Articles of Organization
As part of the 2027 Annual Business Meeting, AMC members will be asked to vote on proposed updates to AMC's Articles of Organization. The current Articles of Organization were adopted in 2004 and serve as the organization's governing corporate charter. The proposed updates are intended to better reflect AMC's current activities, recent bylaw updates, and changes in nonprofit law. Members are encouraged to review the proposed Articles and supporting materials before casting their vote.
Proposed 2027 Articles of Organization Current 2004 Articles of Organization
What exactly are AMC’s Articles of Organization and why are they so important?
The Articles of Organization (often referred to as Articles of Incorporation) legally create a non-profit organization as a distinct corporate entity separate from its directors, officers, and founders. Filing this foundational document with the state officially brings the non-profit corporation into existence, giving it the legal capacity to sign contracts, sue or be sued, own property, and hire staff. It also establishes a corporate shield that protects the personal assets of board members, managers, and volunteers from the everyday debts and legal liabilities of the organization, provided they act responsibly.
How are AMC’s Articles of Organization different from AMC’s Bylaws?
AMC’s Articles of Organization legally establish AMC as a distinct corporate entity giving it legal capacities and liability protection board members, managers, and volunteers whereas AMC’s Bylaws describe how our organization will be governed, from descriptions of the Board of Directors roles and responsibilities to the membership’s decision making and voting responsibilities.
Is nonprofit incorporation through filing an organization’s Articles of Incorporation the same as receiving 501(c)(3) status?
No. Nonprofit incorporation and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status are separate processes. Incorporation is a state-level filing that creates the organization as a legal entity. Applying for 501(c)(3) status is a federal process through the IRS that grants tax exemption to a specific organization. However, Articles of Incorporation do include legal language required by the IRS as part of receiving 501(c)(3) status.
Why does AMC need to update its Articles of Organization at this time?
AMC filed its last updated set of Articles of Organization in Massachusetts in 2004 and in New Hampshire back in 1935. Given AMC recently updated its Bylaws, the activities which AMC supports and undertakes have changed over the past decades, and to reflect more recent changes in Massachusetts laws governing nonprofits, the Board updated AMC’s Articles of Organization working with legal counsel.
What has changed between the 2004 and the updated Articles of Organization?
From a membership perspective, the most important changes were to the first page where the narrative descriptions of what activities AMC supports and carries out were updated and expanded significantly. As a non-profit organization, its important for AMC’s Articles of Organization to clearly describe the full array of activities it supports and undertakes through the work of its staff, Board and thousands of volunteers.
From a legal perspective, the text on pages 2-6 was updated to reflect changes in Commonwealth of Massachusetts laws enacted since 2004.
Why does AMC have to file its Articles of Organization in both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of New Hampshire?
Given AMC’s headquarters are located in Boston, since 1874 AMC has filed its Articles of Organization with the Commonwealth. In addition, given AMC has significant lodging facilities and, therefore, does significant business in New Hampshire, since 1935 AMC has also filed its Articles of Organization within the state. Recognizing AMC also does business throughout its Maine to Virginia geography, AMC staff are in the process of registering AMC as a non-profit organization in the remaining states and the District of Columbia, but still only filling the Articles in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
What are the most significant updates to AMC’s Articles of Organization which members should be aware of?
Members should feel reassured that the updated Articles help protect AMC’s non-profit status by providing an accurate and comprehensive listing of the activities undertaken through the AMC and strengthened liability protection for board members, managers, and volunteers through the updates to the extensive legal language.
150th Annual Meeting
We are pleased to announce that both the 2026 Board Slate of Nominees and 2026 Proposed Bylaws were approved at AMC’s 150th Annual Business Meeting on Saturday, January 24, 2026.
Watch the recording featuring highlights from 2025, a review of the year’s financials, and a celebration of outstanding volunteers. The meeting also includes important organizational updates, including the vote on bylaws changes and the results of board slate voting.
Board Meetings
AMC's Board of Directors meets throughout the year to oversee the organization's strategy, finances, governance, and mission-driven work. The schedule below includes upcoming board meetings and anticipated topics of discussion.
| Date | Time (EST) | Location | Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, March 19 | 1:00-5:00 PM | Virtual |
|
| Tuesday, June 16 | 8:30 AM-12:00 PM | Natick, MA |
|
| Friday, October 17-Sunday, October 18 | Saturday 9:00 AM-4:00 PM
Sunday 8:30 AM-12:30 PM |
AMC Highland Center |
|
| Thursday, December 10 | 1:00-5:00 PM | TBD – Boston Area | Available December 10 |
Legal & Governing Documents
The documents below provide the legal and governance framework for the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Member Bylaws
The Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) Bylaws are legal descriptions of the organization’s governance procedures and protocols. The current bylaws were approved at AMC's 150th Annual Business Meeting on January 24, 2026.
2026 Bylaws
Articles of Organization
The Articles of Organization establish AMC as a nonprofit corporation in Massachusetts and define the organization's legal purpose. The current Articles of Organization were adopted in 2004.
2004 Articles of Organization
Incorporation Records
The documents below record AMC's original legal establishment in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These historical records document the organization's formation and incorporation, while the Bylaws and Articles of Organization define AMC's current legal structure and governance.
1935 Act of Incorporation (NH) 1878 Certificate of Incorporation (MA)