Executive Director, New Board Members Help Revive Foundation Created to Support Montgomery Parks
February 14, 2011
(Silver Spring, MD, Thursday December 16, 2010) – The Montgomery Parks Foundation announced today the hiring of lifelong County resident Debbie Heibein Rankin as Executive Director and the appointment of Edwin Grosvenor and Joe Isaacs to the Board of Trustees.
Heibein has served as Executive Director of the Montgomery County Historical Society, Director of Development of the BlackRock Center for the Arts, and head of the Sandy Spring Museum. She is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery and is actively involved with County public schools/PTAs and land use and transportation issues. According to Foundation President Royce Hanson “As a lifelong resident and activist in Montgomery County, as well as great success as a fundraiser, Heibein brings a unique connection to and understanding of the contribution made by our vibrant parks system to the very fiber of our community.” Heibein will be employed initially as a contract Parks employee, with the understanding that her position will be funded by the Foundation as fundraising succeeds. Parks Department Director Mary Bradford adds “Recent and anticipated future budget cuts in the Parks budget have hampered our efforts to re-establish the Foundation but also underscore the need for support from other sources. This investment in the future of Parks is needed now more than ever. We hope to recover our relatively modest investment in the not too distant future, not only with donations coming in but through the cultivation and nurturing of long term relationships with individuals, families, and groups that enjoy and support our Parks system.”
The Foundation Executive Director will be supported by a growing Board of Trustees that includes two recently elected members—Edwin S. Grosvenor is a writer and editor-in-chief of American Heritage magazine. Grosvenor is an avid parks supporter and historian and the sixth generation of his family involved in publishing. Both his grandfather and father were president and editor of the National Geographic Society, where his brother is currently the chairman of the board. Joseph Isaacs has been a national health policy advocate for over thirty years, as President and CEO of the National Health Council, Vice-President for Trustee and Community Leadership of the American Hospital Association, and as chief executive of national advocacy organizations promoting women’s health and health care. He and his family live in North Potomac.
The Planning Board created the Foundation in 1992 to support and enhance the county’s parks, but it was only modestly successful and in 2009 the Foundation’s Board of Trustees voted to suspend operations while the Foundation structure and operations were evaluated. “Through their recent actions, the Foundation Board of Trustees and the Planning Board have effectively revived the Foundation as a promising fundraising partner for the struggling Montgomery Parks system. Despite looming budget cutbacks, the future is brighter for Parks by virtue of the Foundation moving forward” according to President Hanson.
For official press release, click here.
