Meredith Thomas, Executive Director
Meredith is excited to continue NPC’s efforts to leverage volunteerism and community-driven park improvements in addition to partnering with the City to implement innovative park financing tools, ensure long-term open space planning accounts for increased density and prioritizes parks, and to help realize the Blue Greenway.
Meredith has been an active participant on the 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond since June of 2007, providing input on the development of the bond, hosting community meetings prior to the passage of the bond to facilitate voter discussions with RPD, and now sits on the Opportunity Fund Task Force, Restroom Task Force, Trails Working Group, and is providing input on the Forestry portion of the bond. Under her direction, NPC is also tracking planning and design for the neighborhood parks with dedicated funding, and will continue to host public discussions related to the bond in conjunction with RPD.
Prior to joining NPC in 2007, Meredith was the Land Conservation Program Associate at the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council. In that position, she worked to preserve in perpetuity more than 140,000 acres of watershed lands in California through stakeholder engagement and policy development. Meredith was responsible for convening public and key stakeholder meetings to plan for the preservation and enhancement of existing uses of land owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company throughout California, and to facilitate consensus about how the land preservation should occur given conflicting uses and interests (such as existing cattle grazing occurring adjacent to streams with sensitive trout habitat). Meredith was also involved in the development and launch of the associated grant-making plan that is investing $30million in efforts to connect under-served youth to the outdoors.
Meredith holds a Bachelors of Science in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology from UC Davis and a Masters of Arts in Environmental Business Relations from San Francisco State University.
Hailing from a park family, Meredith’s parents met on a tennis court in San Francisco and her sister is a California State Park Ranger. Meredith lives in the Lower Haight and is excited to be so deeply connected to amazing community networks in neighborhoods across San Francisco.
Victoria Bell, Deputy Director
Non-profit management and community engagement are the underlying passions that direct Victoria's career. She developed her enthusiasm for urban open space while living in Pittsburgh, PA attending the Heinz College of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University where she received her master’s degree in non-profit administration. It was there that she gained insight into public policy and planning, which she has applied towards her professional endeavors. The desire to merge her work in urban policy issues and organizational management led her to the Neighborhood Parks Council.From her professional beginnings, Victoria has been drawn to projects in her home community. this has included:
- Mural projects within the greater Pittsburgh community at the Sprout Fund, a small granting institution focused on retaining young people in the Pittsburgh region.
- Working in HIV prevention and services throughout the LGBT community in San Francisco with STOP AIDS Project and Project Open Hand.
- And further to working within the greater Bay Area community at SPUR, the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association where she dedicated her three years on staff to growing their membership base, creating a stronger voice for smart urban planning and policy in our city.
Sunya Ojure, Program Manager
Sunya Ojure is NPC's Program Manager and oversees the Playground Initiative, ParkScan, and Fiscal Sponsorship programs. Under Sunya’s coordination, the Playground Initiative has engaged volunteers at over 20 needy playground sites from 2008 to 2010 and continually advocates for fun and safe playgrounds, using data from the Initiative’s biennial Playground Report Card.
As the manager for NPC’s ParkScan.org park maintenance reporting website, Sunya ensures that everyday park users can easily communicate issues they observe in their parks to the appropriate City maintenance staff. She also produces monthly and annual data reports intended to inform park planning, funding, and advocacy citywide.
In her role as Fiscal Sponsorship Program Manager, Sunya actively supports all of NPC’s fiscally sponsored groups, helping them build capacity, raise funds, and hold park workdays and social events.
Since joining NPC, Sunya has also been heavily involved in a number of special projects including the 2008 Quality of Life Supervisor Candidate Debates, Dig It!, the 2009 Open Space Workshop Series, and the Maccabi Games' DOCAS volunteer event.
Sunya grew up in rural Lexington, VA where she developed her love of the outdoors. She feels happiest walking the streets and parks of San Francisco and hopes to remain in the city indefinitely. Sunya has a BA in Latin American Studies from Brown University, and is an avid ultimate frisbee player. One of her favorite place to practice ultimate is Crocker Amazon Playground.
Anita moved to San Francisco from New York after graduating from Boston University with a bachelor's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. She immediately fell in love with the west coast lifestyle, as she could spend her days biking, going to yoga and spending time outside in parks and open spaces nearly every day of the year. Prior to joining NPC, Anita worked as a public relations professional for three years, where she had the opportunity to work with various nonprofits, technology and medical device companies. As the development associate, she will assist in NPC's fund development, including individual donor cultivation, corporate support, foundation research and grantwriting. Anita also provides support in coordinating NPC's events and oversees NPC’s Twitter and Facebook. One of Anita’s favorite parks in San Francisco is Dolores Park.
Erika Grant, Administrative Assistant
As the Administrative Assistant at NPC, Erika works to support the staff and to help keep the office running smoothly. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Erika moved to San Francisco and began working as an assistant in the events department at an investment bank and trained as a massage therapist. San Francisco parks quickly became important to Erika as a place to de-stress and to enjoy nature within the city, and to connect with and the community.
You can often find Erika hiking through Glen Canyon Park, training for her next marathon in Golden Gate Park or knitting on the knoll at Dolores Park.
