NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Dorene (Dorie) Bolze, president and founding CEO of the Harpeth
Conservancy, has received a 2023 Women of Influence Award from the Nashville Business
Journal.
The publication recognized Bolze in the Nonprofit Leader category, which honors women who “display high energy and skill in a leadership role at a nonprofit institution or organization.”
The Harpeth Conservancy, founded in 1999, is a science-based conservation organization that works to restore and protect clean water and healthy ecosystems for rivers throughout Tennessee.
“More than 20 years ago, Dorie spearheaded a small group of dedicated citizens and board
members originally focused on the Harpeth River, a state-designated scenic river. Dorie began with an all-volunteer group with $1,300 in the bank in 2001 and now leads an organization with an annual budget of $1.25 million and an 8-member staff of scientists, attorneys, policy experts, community engagement leaders and volunteer program organizers,” said Courtney Laginess, Harpeth Conservancy’s board chair and assistant general counsel for intellectual property at Jacksonville-based FIS.
“We are delighted that the Nashville Business Journal recognized the leadership that Dorie and the other Women of Influence Award recipients for 2023 provide for our community,” Laginess added.
Bolze noted that the importance of nonprofit conservation organizations is significant in
Tennessee.
“Tennessee’s natural resources, especially its rivers, are vital to the state’s economy and provide the foundation for people’s health and well-being. This is why my three-word speech at the Women of Influence Awards luncheon was ‘Water is Life’,” Bolze said.
The rivers in Tennessee are part of the unique freshwater river systems of the Southeast that contain some of the greatest variety of aquatic life in the world. Over 4.25 million Tennesseans rely on rivers for their drinking water. Yet, close to 60% of the state’s waterways do not meet state water quality standards required to protect public health and aquatic life.
The Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence honors the region’s leading women in
business, women who are making an impact in their companies and blazing a trail for others.
Honorees hail from a variety of industries and roles, recognized for both their professional
achievements and leadership in our community.
Lear more about Harpeth Conservancy at www.harpethconservancy.org.
 Bolze, president and founding CEO of the Harpeth Conservancy, has received a 2023 Women of Influence Award from the Nashville Business Journal.){kind=link}