I am an independent parks, placemaking, and open space consultant who works with both private and public clients, such as the Central Park Conservancy and Bloomberg Associates. Over the last 20 years, I’ve also served as the Director of the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land; Director of Public Programs for the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy; and Executive Director of the Austin Parks Foundation.

 

At the Trust for Public Land, I managed a team that published the annual ParkScore Index, ranking and comparing the 100 largest U.S. city park systems. I have a master's in Urban Placemaking & Management from Pratt Institute, and I’ve served on the boards of multiple parks, greenspace, and conservation organizations, including EarthShare (Washington DC), City Parks Alliance (Washington DC), and the Friends of the Middlesex Fells. (Melrose, MA)

 

I've recently (December, 2024) published a four-part report, Partners for Parks, based on my nearly 20 years of experience working for and with parks agencies, park nonprofits and as a consultant. Clicking on the image on the left will take you to the page.

My hands-on parks experience that makes me particularly qualified to guide others—from starting a friends group to managing a citywide parks nonprofit to helping parks groups nationwide figure out the next steps in their partnerships. In the past two years, I’ve consulted in Austin, Boston, Newark, Providence, Houston, New Orleans, New York City, San Jose, Tulsa, Lafayette, LA, Stamford, CT, and Washington, D.C. While each city and park is unique, I provide a range of research, analysis, and recommendations on funding, programming, governance, and working relationships for park partnerships.

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I'm a regular volunteer in parks and open spaces in the Boston area, my favorite activity is leading trail restoration and invasive management projects in the Middlesex Fells Reservation, a 2300-acre mostly forested state park just north of Boston.