FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Buffalo, N.Y. – The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy (BOPC) announces that Chief Financial Officer Beth Downing will be stepping into the role of Interim Executive Director following the departure of Stephanie Crockatt on May 18.
Beth Downing, a Certified Public Accountant, with 35 years of experience working in government and not-for-profit sectors, has been with the Conservancy since 2012. She will oversee all Conservancy operations as the board-appointed search committee works with Koya Partners to conduct a professional and inclusive search process for the new Executive Director. Under Beth’s leadership, the Conservancy will ensure a smooth transition period. Park-users and local communities can be confident that it’s “business as usual” at all of Buffalo’s Historic Olmsted Parks and they can look forward to everything the parks have to offer, all summer long.
Outgoing Executive Director Stephanie Crockatt leaves after a nine-year tenure in the role, to take up a position in Sarasota, Florida leading a new conservancy and where she will be closer to family. “Stephanie’s leadership and achievements are well known to our region,” said BOPC Board Chair Bart Kresse. “Under her stewardship, our Olmsted parks are vibrant, healthy and beautiful. And, most importantly, they are magnets for residents to use every day, to walk, run, play golf in and just find peace and relaxation. We will miss her and want to wish her all the best in her next position, and thank her for her dedication and hard work.”
BOPC will be providing updates throughout the Executive Director search to ensure a fully transparent process.
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About the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is the first nonprofit organization in the nation, through a unique public-private partnership, to manage, operate and maintain an entire urban park system consisting of more than 850 acres of beautifully designed historic parks, parkways and circles. The Conservancy is an independent not-for-profit, community organization whose mission is to steward Buffalo’s historic Olmsted park system to welcome and benefit all. To accomplish this, the Conservancy collaborates with community and strategic partners, advocates for quality parks for all, and enhances the park system through beautification, maintenance, and capital projects. More than 2.5 million visits occur in Buffalo’s Olmsted Park system annually for recreation, relaxation, and rejuvenation.
The Buffalo Olmsted Park System includes:
Six parks: Cazenovia, Delaware, Front, Martin Luther King, Jr., Riverside, and South
Seven parkways: Bidwell, Chapin, Lincoln, McKinley, Porter, Red Jacket, and Richmond
Eight landscaped traffic circles: Agassiz, Colonial, Ferry, Gates, McClellan, McKinley, Soldiers, and Symphony
Smaller spaces: Days, Heacock and Prospect
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