Buckeye Trail Association trustee Jill Moorhead awarded Foundation for Appalachian Ohio Fellowship
Shawnee, Ohio — The Buckeye Trail Association (BTA) is pleased to announce that Jill Moorhead, a trustee of the organization, has been awarded a Fellowship from the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO). The fellowship will support Moorhead’s project, The Trail Ahead: Expanding Stewardship in Appalachian Ohio Through Strategic Communications, which is focused on strengthening the association’s capacity to engage communities in environmental stewardship throughout the region.
The Buckeye Trail Association maintains and promotes the more than 1,400-mile Buckeye Trail, a long-distance hiking trail that circles the state of Ohio. Significant portions of the trail wind through Appalachian Ohio and the Muskingum Watershed region, making community-based stewardship essential to its long-term success.
Through the FAO Fellowship, Moorhead will lead a series of initiatives to fuel Appalachian Ohio’s environmental stewardship work with sustainability and visibility.
The project includes:
Increased engagement and collaboration with tourism agencies in the region;
Leading the Buckeye Trail’s website transformation into a resource rich with information for outdoor experiences; and
Developing a hands-on workshop for Buckeye Trail volunteers and event planners across Appalachian Ohio to enhance public relations skills, marketing best practices, and stewardship-centered storytelling for current and former Growing Home Fellows.
The Buckeye Trail corridor overlaps with numerous counties within the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s footprint, and much of the project’s work will focus in these counties: Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Harrison, Noble, Monroe, Washington, Morgan, Athens, Perry, Hocking, Vinton, Adams, Highland, Pike, Ross, Scioto and Brown.
By integrating digital infrastructure, printed advocacy tools, membership engagement, tourism partnerships, and trainings, The Trail Ahead will strengthen the Buckeye Trail Association’s collaboration and long-term stewardship across Appalachian Ohio.
About Jill Moorhead
Jill Moorhead is the founder of Big Trek Works, an integrated marketing and communications agency serving clients throughout Ohio. She is a recent graduate of CreativeOhio’s Advocacy Leadership Institute and a freelance writer for several publications. Moorhead holds a B.S. in Visual Communications from the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. She was elected as a Trustee of the Buckeye Trail Association for a three-year term beginning in September 2025.
About the Buckeye Trail Association
The Buckeye Trail Association is the nonprofit manager dedicated to improving, promoting, and protecting Ohio’s Buckeye Trail, a more than 1,400-mile loop showcasing the state’s natural and cultural heritage.
About the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio is a regional philanthropic organization dedicated to creating opportunities and inspiring change in Appalachian Ohio.
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