Team
Anne O’Brien
Grants Manager
Anne has shepherded grants at The Oak Hill Fund since 2006. She is inspired every day by the dedication of Oak Hill’s partners, who directly confront issues critical to us all. Anne holds a bachelor’s in Geology from Bucknell University, and a master’s in Environmental Sciences from UVa. She worked for the U.S. Geological Survey for several years, publishing in a range of peer-reviewed journals concerning the effects of acid rain and agricultural/industrial runoff on streamwater in Virginia, New Jersey, and Long Island. After her work at USGS, she returned to Charlottesville to raise her family. She served in volunteer leadership positions at a cooperative preschool and public elementary school and provided art and science enrichment in classrooms. Originally from Allentown, PA, she has now lived most of her life in Charlottesville, a prosperous and historic town where ideals are brought front and center. She appreciates Charlottesville’s active engagement with the challenging issues facing many communities across the country, such as affordable housing, full political participation, truthful and helpful understanding of our history, and strong public schools. She runs every morning and loves Charlottesville’s neighborliness, its proximity to the mountains, and its energetic music scene, especially supportive of songwriters. She plays guitar and ukulele and has performed in Central Virginia over the past ten years with her acoustic combo, Her Checkered Past. Her two adult children have moved away, but remain enraptured with Bodos Bagels and return often.
Jason Halbert
Executive Director
Jason has spent the last 25 years in philanthropy. Prior to his current role, he served as Deputy Director, and Program Officer at the Fund. He manages all aspects of the foundation and serves on the Investment Committee. Prior to joining The Oak Hill Fund, Jason managed grassroots grantmaking focused on biodiversity protection in the Pacific Northwest United States and Canada at the W. Alton Jones Foundation. Jason currently serves on the Rivanna River Basin Commission and numerous non-profit Boards. He previously served as Chairman of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. He coordinated two multi-year initiatives to remove dams from rivers in Central Virginia, helping expand the Scenic River system and open new migratory fish habitat. Jason once directed the Appalachian Restoration Campaign, an effort to create a network of protected wild lands in central Appalachia. In previous positions, he taught forest ecology through the Wild Rockies Field Institute, helped manage an organic farm and orchard, served as a lobbyist on public lands issues on Capitol Hill and was a garden guide at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. He holds a degree in political science from the University of Delaware and is a 2010 graduate of the UVA Sorensen Political Leaders Program. He is an avid canoeist, cyclist and gardener. He lives in downtown Charlottesville with his wife and children.