Nebraska Environmental Trust taps long-time employee to lead lottery grant agency
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Nebraska Environmental Trust taps long-time employee to lead lottery grant agency
Holly Adams has worked 12 years at the agency, including five as grant administrator. She replaces Karl Elmshaeuser, who resigned as director in May. The job paid $120,852-a-year as of 2023. Adams says she will work to “rebuild trust and increase (the) impact” of the Trust. The Trust awards about $20 million a year in grants to help the state’s environment.. Board members of the Nebraska Environmental Trust made their annual grant awards in 2024. The grants were awarded early, in January instead of June, to allow organizations to begin work sooner.
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Environmental Trust has tapped a long-time employee as its next director.
On Friday, the Trust’s board appointed Holly Adams as its new executive director. She has worked 12 years at the agency, including five as grant administrator.
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Adams replaces Karl Elmshaeuser, who resigned as director in May to become administrator in Washington, D.C., of the rural utilities service within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development division.
The Nebraska Environmental Trust, headquartered in Lincoln, awards about $20 million a year in grants to help the state’s environment. (Courtesy of the Nebraska Environmental Trust)
Fifty four people applied for the top job at the Trust, with Adams advancing to the final round with one other applicant, the Trust announced by press release. The job paid $120,852-a-year as of 2023.
Adams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in fisheries and wildlife with an emphasis on conservation biology.
In a statement, Adams pledged to lead the Trust “with transparency and a renewed commitment to public engagement, while adhering to NET’s updated laws, policies and procedures.”
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The Environmental Trust was created along with the Nebraska Lottery, which provides about $20 million a year for the Trust to distribute in competitive grants aimed at “conserving, enhancing and restoring Nebraska’s natural environments.”
In recent years, applications for grants have declined substantially, with some previous recipients declining to seek additional grants due to new requirements that have increased the number of applications deemed “ineligible.”
In addition, Gov. Jim Pillen and state lawmakers carved out about $13 million from the Trust’s annual lottery allotment next year to help close the state’s budget deficit — a move that prompted the threat of a lawsuit.
In a statement, Adams said she would work to “rebuild trust and increase (the) impact” of the Trust “by maintaining open communication and consistency with our grantees.”
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Sandy Scofield, president of the group Friends of the Environmental Trust, said Monday she wasn’t surprised by the selection of Adams.
“We’ve always worked well with her,” said Scofield, a former state senator. “She certainly has the experience to run the grant program.”
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