Pilot Knob resident Bill Creighton is the new chairman of the Lake George Association, the nation’s oldest lake protection organization and arguably, its best funded and most effective.
Creighton was elected to succeed Dr. John E. Kelly III, who became board chair in 2024. During Kelly’s tenure, the organization hired President and CEO Dr. Brendan Wiltse and adopted its latest strategic plan, a press release from the LGA noted.
Kelly, who joined the LGA’s board in 2012, will remain a member of its board of directors.
Creighton’s family has owned property at Pilot Knob for more than a century. His great-grandfather built the family’s Lake George camp in 1898, and Creighton said the family’s long connection to the lake helped inspire his commitment to conservation.
“As someone whose family has a deep connection to Lake George, I’m honored to serve as board chair during such an exciting time for the Lake George Association,” Creighton said “The LGA has never been stronger, and our strategic direction has never been clearer.”
Creighton, who spent 35 years as an IBM executive, most recently as vice president of finance for IBM Transformation and Operations, is also chairman of Adirondack Community Foundation, the region-wide non-profit organization investing in the social safety net, early childhood, housing and economic development, among other things.
Although the LGA is an environmental conservation organization and the Adirondack Community Foundation focuses on social development, the missions of the two groups are compatible, said Creighton.
“They are, of course, very different organizations, but the communities that we work to strengthen through ACF benefit from the vigilance of the LGA and like-minded groups,” Creighton said in an interview with the Lake George Mirror.
“The health of our communities depends upon the protection of water and land, especially as these grow more dependent upon tourism,” he emphasized.
As a member of the LGA’s board, Creighton was especially active in connecting environmental protection with community development. Among other things, he worked with Arrow Bank and Adirondack Trust Company to establish no-interest loan programs to help Lake George watershed property owners replace aging septic systems.
Creighton also noted that skills required to chair one organization serve the other equally well.
“The principles of governance and nonprofit management are common across a spectrum of organizations,” he said.
As a member of the LGA’s board and its treasurer, Creighton was among those leading the drafting of the organization’s new strategic plan, which calls for the mobilization of resources – financial and otherwise – to ensure the lasting protection of Lake George.
According to the plan, the LGA aims to see not only improvements to water quality by 2030, but a larger role for itself in shaping federal and state policies.
“The greater focus on advocacy, especially in Albany, could be transformational,” said Creighton. “That’s one example of how this new strategic plan will help us to become even more effective.”
The plan also foresees a more engaged public, mobilized to advocate on behalf of the organization’s lake protection priorities, more robust partnerships and a deepened commitment to the “science to solutions” approach to environmental conservation, Creighton said.
“The LGA acknowledges that climate change is among the greatest threats to the lake, and the strategic plan directs us to focus on that,” he said. “Another focus is systematic Low Impact Development so that we’re not only reducing runoff from disaggregated, discreet properties but across the entire region.”
A graduate of Harvard and Stanford business school, Creighton took time off from college to work with troubled youth, in halfway houses and detention centers. After graduating, and before enrolling in business school at Stanford, he worked in New York State government, in one of the social services agencies assisting children.
The LGA’s President and CEO, Dr. Brendan Wiltse, said the leadership transition was the result of long-term succession planning and positions the organization to continue expanding its freshwater protection efforts.
“John Kelly’s leadership helped transform the Lake George Association into an even stronger, more strategic organization grounded in science and long-term impact,” Wiltse said. “Bill is an exceptional leader who understands how science, partnerships and community engagement come together to create lasting protection for Lake George.”
Founded in 1885, the Lake George Association describes itself as the nation’s first lake conservation organization. The nonprofit represents thousands of members and supporters and focuses on protecting Lake George through scientific research, public education, advocacy and partnerships aimed at preserving the lake’s renowned water quality and clarity.
