Hilary Somers Deely spent her childhood roaming the hills and woods of the Berkshires- hunting for mushrooms and looking for birds. Hilary grew up in a family devoted to conservation; her maternal grandfather was a Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife, as her mother scoured the woods she trained her daughter as an amateur mycologist, and her father established one of the first organic farms in the Berkshire region.

A proud graduate of Simons Rock Early College, Hilary attended University of New Hampshire and studied Shakespeare at Magdalen College, Oxford. Throughout her career as an actress and producer/director, she never lost her connection to the natural world. In recent years Hilary served as President of the Lenox Garden Club and, in that capacity, focused on conservation, horticulture, and education. Her support for environmental causes has also included engagement with Roots Rising, Pleasant Valley Sanctuary, and Naumkeag as well as serving as a corporate trustee of the Trustees of Reservations.