OneCape 2023: Jane Crowley, Dorothy Savarese honored with OneCape Awards

The Cape Cod Commission honored two exceptional individuals this year with the 2023 OneCape Award.

The award is presented annually during the OneCape Summit to a person or organization exemplifying outstanding leadership and dedication to Cape Cod.

This year's recipients are Jane Crowley, former Director of Health and Environment for the Town of Eastham, and Dorothy Savarese, President of the Board of the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative and former CEO and Executive Chair of Cape Cod 5.

Recently retired as Director of Health and Environment, Jane served the Town of Eastham for over two decades, working tirelessly to advance wastewater and water quality planning projects and playing an integral role in implementing the town's water system. Jane also served as a member and vice chair of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative, where she helped local and regional wastewater plans and projects across Cape Cod move forward.

Sharing remarks before the award presentation, APCC Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb said that without Jane's leadership, the Town of Eastham would not have a public water supply. "Jane's openness, her willingness to engage people, to be committed to getting outcomes to improve the environment and therefore the quality of life for everybody is exemplary," said Gottlieb. "She is one of the best public servants I've ever had the opportunity to work with."

"It takes a team, it takes all of us," said Crowley as she accepted the award. "I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. It certainly is not an easy task to do, working on water quality issues, but it certainly is the most worthy effort of all. It's been my privilege and my pleasure."

Currently serving as the President of the Board of the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, Dorothy Savarese recently retired as CEO and Executive Chair of Cape Cod 5, where she led the community bank for nearly 20 years. She formalized the integration of environmental stewardship into the ways in which the Bank serves the community, expanding it to include mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. Savarese's commitment to combating climate change is evident in her volunteer and community activities and past and present State-appointed positions.

"When it comes to Cape Cod's most pressing issues, there are few that have not been touched by Dorothy's leadership," said Cape Air founder and former State Senator Dan Wolf. "Whether it's education, healthcare, the economy, climate change, or housing, Savarese has played a role. Not only has she been a player in our community," said Wolf, "but she gives room and support and space for people to emerge and challenges them to rise to their potential."

Previous OneCape Award winners include Sia Karplus (2016), Three Bays Preservation (2016), Andrew Gottlieb (2017), Pleasant Bay Alliance (2017), Paul Niedzwiecki (2018), Alan McClennen (2019), Wendy Northcross (2021) and Florence Seldin (2022).

Video and presentations from plenary and breakout sessions are available at: onecape.capecodcommission.org