Photo courtesy Save the Bay

Photo courtesy Save the Bay

As executive director of the non-profit Save the Bay, Jonathan Stone (MBA 1984) leads the organization’s efforts to protect the waters and habitats of Narragansett Bay, educate the public, and advocate for environmental policies to protect Rhode Island’s resources for generations. Stone has led the group—the Ocean State’s largest environmental organization—since 2009; he joined as a volunteer in 1989.

Considering it’s the smallest state in the country, Rhode Island has a disproportionately significant coastline, measuring about 400 miles along Narragansett Bay. That coast and the waters within feature prominently in the state’s identity. “If you ask the average Rhode Islander from any part of the state what the most important natural resource is in the state, you’re going to get one answer—Narragansett Bay,” says Stone, who was recently featured in the Harvard Gazette’s To Serve Better Project.

Before landing at Save the Bay, Stone worked as an investment manager and securities analyst in financial services; he also co-founded an investment management company. Those experiences have supported his current role, he says. “My life experience prior to landing at Save the Bay has been informed by interacting with lots of different people in different disciplines and different sectors and figuring out how to connect with them on a level where we can find common ground,” he told the Gazette.

“It’s up to outside entities like Save the Bay to identify a problem, engage the [municipality] and share how the project will benefit the community,” says Stone. “Then comes the work of cobbling together the funding for everything from feasibility studies and permitting to actual project design, and all of that has to come together and it takes a long time.”

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