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07/07/2020 12:00 AMJuly 7, 2020: The Shoreline Greenway Trail (SGT) is pleased to announce the selection of a new Executive Director to lead the SGT in the next phase of its project to encourage the development of safe walking and biking on the Shoreline. After an extensive search, the SGT board and executive search committee have chosen Aziz Dehkan to serve as the organization's first part time executive director.
Dehkan's experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector will serve the organization well as we enter the next phase of emphasizing the regional value of an interconnected shoreline and navigate through the Covid-19 restrictions and welcome more users to our trails.
The decision follows a search period during which the board considered several highly qualified candidates. Ultimately, we were extremely impressed by his skills, experience, vision for our future, and his extensive knowledge of our field.
Dehkan was born and raised in New York City. He lives in Clinton with his wife Barbara and 11-year-old dog, Tinkerbell. With a degree from Rutgers University in Biological Sciences, Dehkan pioneered one of the first organic farms in New Jersey. He is a distinguished leader in the environmental field, a change-maker and ardent advocate for public space. He brings decades of experience, advancing complex urban master plans, working with parks and public space, and implementing policies that build equitable communities. At the Shoreline Greenway Trail, Dehkan will be responsible for advancing our mission, catalyzing new ideas and initiatives, and shepherding our trail's movement into the next phase of regional awareness.
The SGT encompasses four towns: East Haven, Branford, Guilford, and Madison, and each town team collaborates with other towns and advocacy groups in the interest of a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly shoreline. Each town team works closely with town governments and residents to encourage the development of an alternative transportation network that includes woodland trails, bike lanes, sidewalks, shared lane markings (sharrows), traffic-calming, and other measures as appropriate for each town. The organization serves as an entity that encompasses all four towns, and as an advocate and nonprofit conduit for funding and grants.
SGT's volunteer Board of Directors includes members of each town team plus at-large members. The board sets overall strategy and coordinates the town teams' efforts under a long-term vision of an interconnected shoreline from New Haven to the Connecticut River.