Mount Auburn Leadership
Mount Auburn’s leadership is responsible for advancing the Cemetery’s mission, vision, and values.
MATTHEW STEPHENS | President & CEO
Matthew Stephens serves as Mount Auburn Cemetery’s 14th President & CEO. Stephens, a vocal advocate for the power of green spaces in urban environments and an outstanding business leader with strong experience in strategic planning, joined Mount Auburn in September 2021.
“Mount Auburn has always been a leader in reimagining what cemeteries can be and how they can be a resource to the broader community. I look forward to developing a wave of new energy to further galvanize Mount Auburn Cemetery as a locally cherished and internationally recognized cultural institution.”
With more than 15 years of leadership experience, Stephens has managed historic, public-facing organizations with complex missions. He most recently served as the Director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden, and Botanical Garden. Previously, he led MillionTreesNYC under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the most ambitious and complex urban greening projects ever completed, where one million trees were planted throughout New York City.
Stephens is a graduate of Illinois State University and earned his Master of Science in Public Horticulture from the University of Delaware in the prestigious Longwood Graduate Program.
Photograph of Matthew Stephens by Richard Morgenstein.
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Under the leadership of Matthew Stephens, Mount Auburn’s executive staff work collaboratively to oversee the Cemetery’s core areas of activity and achieve its strategic goals.
Michael Albano, Executive Vice President & CFO
Gus Fraser, Vice President of Preservation & Facilities
Jenny Gilbert, Interim Vice President of Institutional Advancement
Bree Harvey, Vice President of Cemetery & Visitor Services
GOVERNANCE
Mount Auburn Cemetery is governed and supported by a Board of Trustees that bring expertise from the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
The Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery, an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization with its own Executive Committee, supports the conservation of Mount Auburn’s natural and cultural resources and promotes public appreciation of the Cemetery’s many facets through programs and educational efforts. Funds raised through the Friends support visitor services, education, horticulture, preservation, and historical collections.
Employment
Join our team! Mount Auburn’s dedicated staff are responsible for the daily care and stewardship of this National Historic Landmark, accredited arboretum and botanical garden, and active cemetery.
CURRENT OPENINGS
Mount Auburn is currently seeking qualified candidates for the following positions:
- Open Position: Executive Assistant at Mount Auburn CemeteryThe President’s Department at Mount Auburn Cemetery is seeking an enthusiastic individual to fill the new position of Executive Assistant. Reporting to the President & CEO, this person will be responsible for providing executive administrative support primarily for the President, Executive Leadership Team and also for the Trustees to assist the Board Relations Officer with … Continue reading
- Open Position: Cemetery Operations TechnicianMount Auburn Cemetery seeks an enthusiastic individual to assist with a variety of tasks pertaining to the daily operations of the Cemetery. Continue reading
- Climbing Arborist at Mount Auburn CemeteryOrganization: Are you tired of working in the commercial tree industry? Do you have 2 or more years of solid climbing experience using rope and saddle and operating an aerial lift? If you answered yes to both questions, then check us out! We are seeking an experienced arborist to assist with maintaining our extensive collection … Continue reading
STAFF AT A GLANCE
Mount Auburn employs 55 full-time staff and 40 seasonal and part-time staff. Additionally, the Cemetery is supported by the work of 10 interns and 100+ volunteers.
Mount Auburn’s staff represent a wide range of professional backgrounds including arboriculture, customer service, curatorship, education, facilities care, financial management, fundraising, gardening, horticulture, human resources, information technology, landscape management, planning, preservation, security, and visitor services.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
Mount Auburn Cemetery is committed to providing a respectful, ethical and fair work environment conducive to the productive accomplishment of our organizational goals. We treat all employees with fairness, respect, dignity, and integrity.
The Cemetery competes for talent with a variety of organizations but finds the most parity in job levels, descriptions, and skill requirements with other comparable organizations such as cemeteries, historic sites, and botanic gardens and/or arboreta.
The Cemetery’s employees are privileged to work with other people who share a desire to build, serve and sustain a strong community of dedicated non-profit professionals through leadership and advocacy. We provide a naturally collaborative atmosphere in which people take true ownership of their roles and yet seek each other’s input to facilitate the best possible solutions to organizational and operational challenges. We share important information openly with one another and invite new ideas and constructive organizational assessment. And, we strive to provide everyone with the opportunity to achieve a manageable work/life balance.
Traditional compensation and benefits programs are important components of our overall Compensation and Benefits Philosophy. Fairness in the design and administration of these programs is of paramount importance to the culture. We regularly calibrate the amount and, where possible, the mix, of both cash compensation and benefits programs. Although we have traditionally strived to deliver competitive health and retirement benefits, coupled with median base-pay levels, we recognize that it is important to be flexible and are committed to revisiting our approach as budgets allow. We periodically utilize multiple, highly-regarded published compensation and benefits surveys to benchmark our reward programs.
We recognize, encourage and reinforce strong organization, team, and individual performance where possible. We cultivate a strong feeling of fairness in pay and recognize that certain skill sets demand more compensation than others while attempting to strike an equitable balance with respect to other factors such as individual performance and length of service. We are also mindful that our overall ability to spend is limited by our financial resources. We are committed to reasonable levels of compensation and benefits and intend full compliance with all federal, state and local regulations.
Mission & Vision
OUR MISSION
Mount Auburn Cemetery inspires all who visit, comforts the bereaved, and commemorates the dead in a landscape of exceptional beauty.
OUR VISION
We envision a world that celebrates life’s seasons, preserves natural beauty, and remembers human stories.
OUR VALUES
Our values define our beliefs and commitments; they are guideposts for our daily work and our future plans. Every day we seek to embody them in our relationships with visitors, families, neighboring communities, and our own staff.
Openness – Welcome
Offering an open door and a welcoming face to all who come here, of every faith, background, identity, and circumstance. Embracing and inclusive to visitors, clients, employees, and volunteers of all identities and backgrounds.
Compassion – Dignity
Respecting all those who come to Mount Auburn for comfort, solace, respite, and work. Aspiring to be of comfort and service to all. Approaching everyone with a sense of caring and understanding. Demonstrating and embodying a belief in the inherent worth of all people.
Beauty – Serenity
Creating and celebrating beauty and fostering a place of serenity for all who seek it. Evoking the essential experience of Mount Auburn as a landscape, a place of beauty, and a source of serenity. Nurturing our defining aesthetic—human experience and nature together. The
Stewardship – Sustainability
Protecting and preserving the history, residents, monuments, structures, collections, and resources of Mount Auburn forever. Caring for the landscape and fostering its health and environmental sustainability in a dynamic and changing world. Leading others toward models and practices for environmental sustainability.
Integrity – Balance
Pursuing the highest standards in our work and practices; striving for quality and consistency of thinking, practice, and outcome. Balancing the many facets of Mount Auburn’s mission within a complementary whole; realizing that the excellence of each facet depends on maintaining the strength and quality of all the others. Encouraging harmony and proportion as essential aspects of Mount Auburn’s beauty and sense of serenity.
Governance
MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Robert Airasian, Jr.
Eliza S. Anderson
David P. Barnett, President & CEO
Lindsay Leard Coolidge
Thomas C. Cooper
Dean T. Hara
James F. Hunnewell, Jr.
Patricia B. Jacoby, Chair
Paul Kuenstner
Philip Laird, Secretary
James N. Levitt
Sean McDonnell, Treasurer
Susan Eldredge Mead
Anthony P. Morris
Caroline V. Mortimer
Laura L. Nash
Niels C. Peetz-Larsen
Richard B. Peiser
Franklin A. Reece
FRIENDS OF MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY TRUSTEES
Caroline Mortimer, Chair
Eliza Anderson, Vice Chair
Sean McDonnell, Secretary & Treasurer
David P. Barnett
Lindsay Leard Coolidge
HONORARY TRUSTEES
Peter S. Ashton
William C. Clendaniel, President Emeritus
Marion R. Fremont-Smith
Susan W. Paine (Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery)
James M. Storey
William A. Truslow