About Us

Our Mission

CVSC Education Fund is dedicated to maximizing the participation of conservation-minded citizens in decisions regarding South Carolina’s environment, natural resources, and community health made at the state and local levels. We publish educational tools and host regional projects to inform decision-makers and the public.

Structure and Funding

CVSCEF is a statewide 501(c) (3) nonprofit nonpartisan organization. Donations are tax-deductible.
CVSCEF is governed by a volunteer board of directors. As a 501(c) (3) entity, CVSCEF does not engage in political campaign activities. 

Resource Sharing Agreement

CVSCEF reimburses CVSC for services based on the proportion of time expended on behalf of
CVSCEF’S educational programs. (Legal contract for sharing personnel, equipment, and facilities)

---

Our Board of Directors

Cynthia Powell, Myrtle Beach | Chair: Powell is an entrepreneur and lifelong conservationist. She proactively gathered over 2,000 signatures in order to protest billboard construction on Highway 22 in Myrtle Beach. In addition, she is former Chair of the Winyah Chapter of the South Carolina Sierra Club. She received her B.A. in Education from USC and her Masters in Education from Winthrop University.

Arnold Nemirow, Mount Pleasant | Vice Chair: Nemirow is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of Bowater Inc. and has served on various nonprofit boards, including as the Chair of The Nature Conservancy of SC from 2009-2012.

Ken Harvin, Summerton: Harvin is the Rural Program Director at SCACED. He has spent twenty years as a community development practitioner in communities of color, addressing the issue of social inequality by using community-building and community-organizing principles. Harvin graduated from Scott’s Branch High School in the historic civil rights community of Summerton, South Carolina, and was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps. He holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management with a specialization in community development finance from the New School Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy.

Michael Brown, Greenville: Brown is the Executive Director of Sustaining Way. A native of Spartanburg, Michael holds a B.A. in Political Science from Alabama A&M University, an MPA from The Ohio State University, and a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Brown served 12 years as the District One Representative for Spartanburg County Council, was the first African American Vice-Chair and chaired the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, and was a long-serving member of the Economic Development Committee, having worked directly to establish 20k jobs delivering more than $8 billion of development. Among many community service roles, he has served on the South Carolina Bar Board of Governors, serves as President of the Spartanburg NAACP, is an alumnus of the Liberty Fellowship, and is an Aspen Global Leadership Fellow.

Susan Hilfer, Beaufort: Susan is a retired medical illustrator who worked for the USC School of Medicine prior to establishing her own practice specializing in medical-legal illustration. She has served on advisory panels for the federal South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, most recently, the Habitat & Environmental Protection AP.