POST Announces Two Senior Staff Promotions: Benjamin Wright is Vice President, Land Transactions; Irina Kogan is Vice President, Conservation

Peninsula Open Space Trust Appoints Two Senior Staff Promotions: Benjamin Wright is Vice President, Land Transactions
Irina Kogan is Vice President, Conservation

PALO ALTO, Calif. (September 17, 2025) — Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) today announced the promotion of two long-time employees to senior roles: Benjamin Wright is now vice president of land transactions, and Irina Kogan is vice president of conservation. These new appointments set the stage for the nonprofit land trust to grow and deepen its mission to protect open space on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all.

Wright joined POST in 2015 as a senior conservation project manager. He then served as the program manager for all farmland-related conservation and stewardship efforts. Most recently, Wright was POST’s director of transactions, managing a portfolio of land acquisition and transfer projects worth over $150 million. A native Missourian, Wright has worked in and around land and water conservation for more than 20 years.

“POST is in a unique position to improve the ecological health and resilience of the Bay Area through our process of acquiring properties from willing sellers, restoring them and eventually transferring these environmentally significant lands to publicly funded agencies,” said Wright. “In the Bay Area, conservation transactions have become ever more complex and expensive. I am honored and excited to lead the team that makes these deals happen.”

Wright earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, biodiversity and evolutionary biology from the University of Kansas and a master’s in environmental science and policy from Clark University. He lives in the Santa Cruz mountains with his wife and school-aged children.

After more than 20 years in the field of conservation, including eight years at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Kogan joined POST in 2017 as a project manager. She has expanded POST’s work beyond traditional land acquisition into regional restoration, landscape linkage strategy, wildlife connectivity, regional forest health and wildfire resilience initiatives. As vice president of conservation, Kogan and her multidisciplinary team will deliver environmentally progressive, measurable outcomes associated with POST’s strategic pillars—preserving biodiversity, building climate resilience and increasing equitable public access to open space.

“To me, this role at POST is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Kogan. “We have the great fortune to live in one of the world’s top 25 biodiversity hotspots. It’s a privilege to be part of a committed community of colleagues and partners who make this work impactful and enjoyable. Together we’re shaping the future of conservation in a changing world.” 

Kogan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in geological science from Tufts and a master’s in marine geology and geochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been living and working in California since 2002, and she lives on the San Mateo Coast with her husband and two school-aged children.

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ABOUT THE PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST

POST protects open space on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all. As a private nonprofit land trust, POST has been responsible for saving more than 93,000 acres since its founding in 1977. POST works with private landowners and public agencies to create a network of protected lands so that present and future generations may benefit from the careful balance of rural and urban landscapes that makes our region extraordinary. Visit openspacetrust.org for more information.