The Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA) is pleased to announce Ilya Shmulenson as the recipient of the 2025 ANCA Outstanding New Leader Award. This award recognizes Shmulenson’s achievements in the field of nature and environmental learning centers, specifically in organizational leadership, professionalism, professional development, and creativity.
Shmulenson has been Executive Director of Lime Hollow Nature Center in Cortland, New York, since October 2021. Already an impactful organization at that time, Shmulenson has since led the organization to expand its operations and programs further.
Under Shmulenson’s leadership, Lime Hollow Nature Center has:
- Increased the operational budget from $750,000 to $1,200,000 within three years
- Received $350,000 from New York State for infrastructure projects including new roofs, solar panels, and HVAC
- Secured $200,000 in grants to develop an accessible trail, as well as provide all-terrain wheelchairs free of charge for visitors
- Expanded Lime Hollow’s Forest Preschool from a 9-month program to year-round operations, as well as starting a new afterschool program
- Expanded community programs, developing new events that have significantly increased organizational program revenue
Shmulenson is known in his professional communities as working collaboratively to accomplish major goals. Monica Lopez Magee, Chief Program, Research & Policy Officer at the Children & Nature Network, wrote in support of Shmulenson’s nomination: “Twelve years ago, I had the privilege of working with llya at Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) … What stands out is how at KAB and Lime Hollow, he was able to take his big ideas and bring people along to make them a reality.”
Shmulenson has been active in ANCA since becoming Executive Director at Lime Hollow; he has attended two ANCA Annual Summits, serves as a mentor in the ANCA Mentor Program, and recently joined the ANCA Governance Committee. He currently serves on the boards of the Seven Valleys Health Coalition and the Cortland County Visitors & Convention Bureau. He was featured as the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability’s August 2019 Net-Zero Hero and won the 30 Under 30 Award: Game Changers for the Planet from the North American Association of Environmental Education in 2016.
ANCA will recognize Shmulenson with this award as part of the Leadership Award Ceremony on August 27 at the 2025 ANCA Annual Summit.
“Ilya represents the energy, vision, and strategic thinking that define the next generation of nature center leadership. His ability to grow organizational capacity while fostering community partnerships and access is truly impressive. ANCA is proud to recognize Ilya’s outstanding accomplishments and his bright future in the field.”
— Jen Levy, ANCA Executive Director
“Ilya is a consummate professional who is passionate about connecting people with nature. If he identifies a barrier, he works tirelessly to remove it. It is hard to imagine someone more deserving of receiving the ANCA New Leader Award than Ilya.”
— Forrest Earl, President of the Lime Hollow Nature Center Board of Directors
“Over the past four years, Ilya has not only been leading, but inspiring through his resilience, optimism, and true passion for the mission of Lime Hollow and the work of all nature centers generally.”
— Whitney Lash-Marshall, Ph.D., Executive Director of Baltimore Woods Nature Center
About the Award
The ANCA Outstanding New Leader Award recognizes an individual with the potential for future impact within the field of nature center administrators. Award recipients demonstrate leadership, professionalism, professional development, and creativity within the field of nature and environmental learning center, while holding less than five years of full-time work experience as the director, executive director, or leader at the highest administrative level at an organization. A committee of ANCA members selects the award recipient from a pool of leaders who were nominated by their peers. This award began in 2014.
About ANCA
The Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA) promotes and supports best leadership and management practices for the nature and environmental learning center profession. It is the only such organization in North America and supports over 700 dues-paying members that include nature center directors, managers, senior administrators, and board members.