Presidents Message
A Great Idea Goes a Long Way
By President Jack Foley
People for Parks is a knowledge-based organization with a high-value mission: to preserve, enhance and expand parks and green space across Los Angeles County; to transform paved playgrounds into Community-School Parks; and to open new doors for all youth by assuring that recreation and human services are broadly accessible.
PFP has come a long way toward achieving our goals with social capital instead of hard cash. Social capital relies on trust in people and their ability to organize in response to need. Social capital is not depleted by use. Indeed, the more you use it the more you accumulate. For example, our two major programs – Community-School Parks and the South L.A. Initiative – are built on working with neighborhood activists and grass roots organizations, City and County park departments, and the LAUSD.
PFP recently received a major infusion of social capital from four new members of our Board of Directors:
- Bill Lambert is a former teacher and Director of Government Relations of the United Teachers Los Angeles. Bill and PFP Vice Pres. John Perez , who led UTLA from 2002 to 2005, give us credibility, relationships and trust with teachers, parents, principals and politicians.
- Richard Sperber is President and COO of ValleyCrest, a pioneering Southern California landscape and planning company. Funds are scarce, making the expertise of Richard and other local landscapers and builders invaluable for reaching our 20-year goal of greening more than 300 LAUSD elementary schools.
- Jill Werner is President and CEO of a national linen and uniform company with offices in California, New York and Texas. Jill has an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from Vassar College, where she sits on the Board of Trustees. She brings private-sector expertise – and a big heart – to PFP.
- Katy Haber is a film producer formerly in the UK and then in Los Angeles, is now Executive Director of Spirit of Youth, a non-profit student exchange between the U.S. and U.K. Katy's work with BAFTA/LA and its Inner City Screening program (18 first-run films at Helen Keller Park in South L.A.) helped support CURE, a gang-abatement and prevention program that has saved the lives of many children in the Athens area of South L.A.
As social anthropologist Margaret Mead once observed, profound social changes can always be traced back to a small group of dedicated activists. People for Parks has made great progress through abundant social capital, a compelling mission and a modest budget. But the time is coming for PFP to translate this success on a larger scale, and that will require hard cash.
Please send me your comments at jack.foley1@verizon.net |
 |
Gregory Thomas, left, enjoys the Watts Healthy Farmers Market with Jo and Jack Foley.
|
|
