2025 Grant Program Advisory Committee

Bruce Addison

Glen Cove, NY

Bruce Addison is a vice chair of the JPMorgan Private Bank in New York where his career has spanned almost 40 years. He is a longtime board member of the Horticultural Society of New York, a social services organization whose mission is to bring horticultural education, therapy, and training to New York's most underserved communities. He also sits on the boards of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, one of New York's largest and oldest genealogical organizations, as well as the Planting Fields Foundation, a supporting organization for Planting Fields, a 409-acre Olmsted-designed property in Oyster Bay, NY.

Introduced to the pleasures of gardening early on by his father and grandmother, both of whom were keen amateur horticulturists, Bruce is an enthusiastic gardener at his house in Glen Cove. He is also looking forward to a new gardening chapter in West Palm Beach, FL, where he is taking up residence.

J. Barclay Collins II

Sharon, CT

Barclay Collins, a longtime executive in the energy business, was elected to the Garden Conservancy's board of directors on September 17, 2015. He is the former executive vice president and general counsel of Hess Corporation, the New York-based global energy company. Prior to joining Hess, he was general counsel of City Investing Company; before that, an attorney with Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Throughout his business and professional life, Barclay has been a committed volunteer leader in healthcare, education, and the arts, and with organizations involved in environmental sustainability and historic preservation. He is currently chairman of the board of trustees of the New York Botanical Garden and past chairman of both the United Hospital Fund of New York and the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut. He also serves on the board of the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies and numerous other organizations in the greater New York area. Barclay is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School.

Carlyn Ferrari

Kent, WA

Carlyn Ferrari is an Associate Professor of English at Seattle University. Her first book, Do Not Separate Her from Her Garden: Anne Spencer's Ecopoetics (University of Virginia Press, 2022) is a study of poet and civil rights activist Anne Spencer's environmental ethos. In her research, she explores how Black women theorize the natural world and considers the intersections between Black feminist thought and literary ecocriticism. She is currently working on a project about Black women's gardens and gardening practices. She hails from the San Francisco Bay Area and holds a Ph.D. in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Kona A. Gray, FASLA, PLA

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Kona (Principal, EDSA) is a firm leader with 28 years of experience in 30+ countries, whose global design and management sense has positively shaped the outcomes of many environments. His portfolio includes large-scale planning and detailed site design, with emphasis on communities, parks, hospitality, and urban and campus environments that solve meaningful issues. Currently, he serves as ASLA Representative to the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board and recently served as ASLA Vice President for Professional Practice. He is a Past President of the Landscape Architecture Foundation and an active member of the Urban Land Institute. Kona earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Georgia.

Charles Royce

Riverside, CT

Chuck Royce is a Senior Advisor at Royce Investment Partners after retiring from positions as President and CEO of the firm, which he founded in 1972. He received his bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1961 and a master's degree in business administration from Columbia in 1963. Chuck is a fellow emeritus of the Brown Corporation, served three terms as a trustee, has held many leadership positions, and continues to serve on the University's Investment Committee.

While not a gardener himself, Chuck has a keen appreciation for the great houses and gardens of the world. He dates his relationship with the Garden Conservancy to his close friendship with Tom and Daisy Wenzel. It was through Tom that Chuck met the Garden Conservancy founders, Frank Cabot and Tom Armstrong. Chuck and his wife Deborah, a longtime trustee of the Garden Conservancy, have enjoyed many Fellow's trips over the years, most especially the trip to Les Quatres Vents and the Cabot Property in Quebec.

Chuck serves on the boards of the Bruce Museum, The Frick Collection, the United Theatre in Westerly, RI, the Compass Rose Society, Berkeley Divinity School, and the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.

Jabari Taylor

Brooklyn, NY

Jabari is a New York-based landscape architect — and frequent collaborator of the Garden Conservancy — with extensive experience working in the areas of commercial, institutional, residential, and park/playground design. Most recently serving as Assistant Landscape Architect for the Prospect Park Alliance, Jabari has been involved in all areas of the design process from concept development to construction observation and administration. His expertise lies in construction document and graphics production, detail design, and concept development.

Elise (Lisa) Trulaske

Palm Beach, FL

Lisa is an active member of the Garden Club of St. Louis (MO). She and her husband Steve are stewards of their Russel Page designed garden at their home in St. Louis and have enjoyed working with Doug Hoerr on the expansion and redesign of the outer gardens. Lisa and Steve enjoy spending time at their home in Palm Beach, where they are passionate about the gardens designed by Jorge Sanchez.

Lisa serves on the Board of the Missouri Botanical Garden in her second term, the St. Louis Art Museum (Collections Committee), and the National Poetry Series, which works to ensure the publication of five books of poetry every year.