This article appears in print in the November 2018 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe.

When Gene Duvernoy founded the Cascade Land Conservancy in 1989, the group’s mission was right there in the name: conserving rural forest and farmland and protecting it from suburban development. Thirty years later, the organization, renamed Forterra to reflect its expanded mission, works to preserve not just land, but communities. This year, Forterra announced a partnership with the nonprofit Africatown to redevelop a key block in the quickly gentrifying Central District, building new affordable housing while preserving local businesses and preventing displacement. Duvernoy retired this year, but Forterra’s community conservation work is just getting started.