BROOKLYN, March 5, 2010 - The Board of Directors of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy announced the appointment of Nancy Webster as the organization’s Executive Director, effective immediately. Ms. Webster will lead the Conservancy in its ongoing efforts as the lead nonprofit citizens group working in support of the world-class park on the Brooklyn waterfront.
Webster has been serving as the Conservancy’s Acting Executive Director for the past year, and succeeds Marianna Koval who stepped down as the organization’s President in June 2009.
David Kramer, Chairman of the Conservancy’s Board of Directors and principal of the Hudson Companies, said that Webster was the Board’s unanimous choice after an extensive search.
“After serving as Acting Executive Director for a year, Nancy has earned the permanent position. She has a wide set of skills in fundraising, programming and advocacy, and she is deeply committed to building a great Brooklyn Bridge Park,” said Kramer.
“I am honored to lead the Conservancy into an exciting phase as the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation opens major new sections of the park to the public,” said Webster. “I look forward to working in partnership with the Development Corporation to engage the citizens of Brooklyn and beyond as we bring life to the park through public programming, volunteer and stewardship efforts, community outreach and private philanthropy.”
Spurred by the Port Authority’s plan to sell the piers along the Brooklyn Heights waterfront for commercial development, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition (now Conservancy) was born in 1988. Based in citizen activism around a desire to revitalize the Brooklyn waterfront and turn the piers area into a public park, an advocacy effort led by the Coalition encompassed more than 60 civic, community, and environmental groups, and resulted in a memorandum of understanding between the State and City committing a total of $150 million and the formation of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation, to design, construct, and operate the park.
Over the past ten years, the Conservancy has brought imaginative and popular programming to the future park site. Working in partnership with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and numerous community groups, the Conservancy has facilitated free public programming enjoyed by more than half a million visitors, including the Floating Swimming Pool at Brooklyn Bridge Park Beach in 2007, and the “Pop-Up Park” on Pier 1 in 2008. The Conservancy has raised over $11 million, which has supported free public programming in the park as well as advocacy, park stewardship and maintenance.
Currently the Conservancy is working with the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation to provide a wide range of free, public programming on Piers 1 and 6, which are set to open this spring. Offerings include the annual outdoor film series “Movies with a View,” boating with local kayaking and rowing groups, a fitness series, playground enrichment activities, and an extensive series of education courses focusing on the natural ecology and built environment of the park.
Adrian Benepe, NYC Commissioner of Parks and Recreation said, “Nancy Webster’s appointment to run the Conservancy is an affirmation of the visionary and community-focused strength of the organization that has led the fight to create this park for more than two decades. Nancy knows her ‘back yard” better than anyone, and has been a strong and effective advocate for Brooklyn’s new ‘front yard’ now being built on the waterfront. We look forward to a continued collegial relationship as we work together with the Development Corporation to construct, open, operate and program the most important new park in Brooklyn in more than a century.”
“Nancy’s capable leadership and her commitment to Brooklyn Bridge Park make her an excellent partner to BBPDC, and we congratulate her on this official appointment as Executive Director of the Conservancy,” said Regina Myer, President of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation. “We look forward to continuing our collaborative work as we prepare for seasons full of activity following the park’s stunning debut this spring.”
Webster joined the Conservancy in 2006 as Director of Marketing and Communications responsible for program and earned-income marketing, government and press relations and institutional branding. In 2007 she was appointed Vice President and Deputy Director.
A communications professional, prior to her time at the Conservancy, she was an Associate Creative Director at Marsteller Advertising, a division of Burson-Marsteller, producing corporate and issues advertising and direct marketing campaigns for a wide variety of clients in the government, financial services, healthcare and corporate sectors. In that capacity, she was a lead creative on the public service advertising which raised over $140 million to construct the World War II Memorial on the Washington Mall, and on the advertising for the United States Treasury which introduced the new $20 bill to both domestic and foreign markets.
A waterfront enthusiast and avid sailor, Webster holds a BA in Philosophy from Duke University. She and her family live in DUMBO.
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About the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy
The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy has worked for twenty years to ensure the creation, adequate funding, proper maintenance, public support, and citizen enjoyment of Brooklyn Bridge Park through partnership with the public sector, development of programming, and active promotion of the needs of the park and its constituents. Since 2000, more than half a million visitors have enjoyed the Conservancy’s free, public programs in the beginnings of Brooklyn Bridge Park. For more information, visit www.brooklynbridgepark.org
