GNPS Welcomes Our New Executive Director - Alexis R. Faust! - GNPS

The Georgia Native Plant Society is pleased to announce Alexis R. Faust as its new Executive Director, bringing decades of nonprofit leadership together with extensive hands-on experience in conservation, habitat restoration, land stewardship, and native plants.

Faust’s conservation work has included leading the stewardship and restoration of prairie, wetland, and woodland ecosystems; protecting significant natural areas through permanent conservation easements; restoring habitat for native wildlife; and expanding public access to and appreciation of native plants.

As Executive Director of Aullwood Audubon, Faust helped secure conservation easements protecting approximately 200 acres of habitat and agricultural land in perpetuity. She led prairie, woodland, wetland, and wildlife-habitat restoration, including efforts to improve habitat for Northern Bobwhite Quail and native owl species. She also directed a major native plant sale that distributed approximately 10,000 native plants each year into homes, schools, and communities.

Faust also spearheaded the grassroots effort to save the Paul E. Knoop Jr. Prairie from development, preserving an established tallgrass prairie and its surrounding ecological resources. Her conservation work included service on the Stillwater River and Greenville Creek Scenic River Advisory Council, an appointment through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Earlier, as President and CEO of Taltree Arboretum & Gardens, Faust oversaw the stewardship and restoration of 360 acres of prairie, wetlands, and woodlands, including conservation initiatives focused on native oak species and long-term ecological stewardship.

For Faust, joining GNPS brings together her experience in organizational leadership with conservation work that has been personally important throughout her career.

“I’ve spent much of my career protecting natural places, but native plants have taught me that conservation doesn’t begin and end at the boundary of a preserve. Every landscape—our yards, schools, parks and communities—can become part of a much larger living ecosystem.”

Faust says she is particularly excited about joining an organization with such a strong network of chapters, members, volunteers, and community partners already engaged in conservation and native plant work throughout Georgia.

“What excites me most about joining GNPS is the extraordinary work already happening in communities across Georgia. Our chapters, members, volunteers and partners bring tremendous knowledge, passion and commitment to this work. I’m honored to join them and to help build on what they’ve created so that together we can extend the reach and impact of their work across the state.”

Faust also looks forward to strengthening relationships with native plant societies and conservation organizations beyond Georgia, creating opportunities to share ideas, learn from successful initiatives in other states, and collaborate on challenges that extend beyond state boundaries.

“Planting a native plant can seem like a small act. Multiply that act by thousands of people across Georgia, and it becomes conservation at landscape scale.”

Faust officially begins her new post on October 5, 2026.