Trudy Coxe

PREPARED: Whether she’s hiking in the woods along the North South Trail in Rhode Island or coming up with new programming and safe ways to hold longstanding events during a pandemic, Trudy Coxe, CEO of The Preservation Society of Newport County, says “you’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected.” / PBN PHOTO/DAVE HANSEN
PREPARED: Whether she’s hiking in the woods along the North South Trail in Rhode Island or coming up with new programming and safe ways to hold longstanding events during a pandemic, Trudy Coxe, CEO of The Preservation Society of Newport County, says “you’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected.” / PBN PHOTO/DAVE HANSEN

PBN 2021 Leaders & Achievers Awards
Trudy Coxe | CEO, The Preservation Society of Newport County


Trudy Coxe has served for more than 20 years as CEO of The Preservation Society of Newport County, but she has recently brought a new level of flexibility and nimbleness to the organization.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Coxe has embraced fresh approaches and programming to help the nonprofit – responsible for maintaining The Breakers, Marble House and several other national historic landmark properties – remain financially sound through a tumultuous time.

Coxe connects her pandemic leadership style and her recent experience hiking the length of Rhode Island on the North South Trail.

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“When you’re out in the woods, you’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected. The same holds true when you’re back at work,” she said. “And just like you can’t plop down in the middle of a boulder field and say I’m not going to go on, we’ve had no option but to just keep going here at the preservation society.”

That has included offering new programming, such as virtual lectures, outdoor holiday lighting displays at The Breakers and a fresh emphasis on marketing the properties’ landscapes. Coxe and her team have also reimagined longstanding events, such as the Newport Wine & Food Festival, in new, COVID-safe formats.

“I know it sounds very trite, but the biggest challenge is money,” Coxe said. “It’s bringing it in and using it in a wise way, and to me that requires a lot of careful thought.”

For example, to help compensate for a dramatic drop in its budget due to the pandemic, the preservation society strategically opened only five of its 11 properties.

Although the nonprofit has not fully recovered yet, Coxe notes its steady progress, including restoring several jobs that had been eliminated at the start of the pandemic and strong ticket sales this summer.

So the key to moving forward as the COVID-19 delta variant raises new concerns?

“We just have to keep our spirits high,” Coxe said. “We have a wonderful place to work, and we are in the hospitality business after all.”

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