Blanchfield named new Root Farm executive director

SAUQUOIT, N.Y. — Upstate Caring Partners, Inc. affiliate agencies announced they have named Peter Blanchfield as the new Root Farm executive director.

A native of the Mohawk Valley, he will maintain financial and programmatic oversight of the Root Farm equine, horticulture, agriculture, and recreation programs. He will also foster donor cultivation, providing strategic management and insight to lead the Root Farm into the future, according to an Upstate Caring Partners news release.

Former Root Farm Executive Director Jeremy Earl is moving on to an administrative leadership position within Upstate Cerebral Palsy.

Prior to joining the Root Farm, Blanchfield was VP of finance and investor relations at MAP, an investment firm based in Palo Alto, California, where he led MAP’s investor relations team and fundraising efforts for MAP’s natural gas and renewable energy royalty partnerships. Before that, he was an investment professional at Emory University. Prior to that, Blanchfield was at Hamilton College, where he served as chief investment officer and member of the finance team for 14 years, per the release.

Blanchfield grew up in New Hartford and earned a bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College. He completed his graduate work at DePaul University’s School of Public Service, earning a master’s degree in nonprofit management. Blanchfield and his family — who collectively share a love of horses, education, fitness, and the outdoors — recently returned to the Mohawk Valley after spending nine years in Northern California.  

 “We welcome Peter to our family of agencies, and know that his impressive and extensive background and work history, coupled with his roots and connection to the Mohawk Valley, will serve to support and further the Root Farm’s tradition of serving people of all abilities, providing opportunities for them to live, learn and grow,” Upstate Caring Partners, Inc. President and CEO, Louis B. Tehan said.

Located on more than 100 acres in Sauquoit, the Root Farm is a complex that features an equine-assisted therapy center, a diverse agriculture center, an accessible challenge course and rock wall for people of all abilities. The Root Farm provides educational, recreational, therapeutic, vocational, and volunteering experiences.

 

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Photo credit: Upstate Caring Partners