Merritt Birnbaum

Merritt Birnbaum is President & CEO of Riverside Park Conservancy, where she leads a 70-person team and thousands of volunteers working in partnership with NYC Parks to care for six miles of public parkland along the Hudson River. With more than two decades of nonprofit leadership, she focuses on public-private partnerships, stewardship, and citywide equity. She is co-founder and co-chair of NYC Parks & Open Space Partners, a coalition launched in 2020 to coordinate open-space nonprofits during COVID that now focuses on building the sector’s influence and resources.

Previously, as Executive Director of Friends of Governors Island, Merritt helped transform a grassroots advocacy group into an independent fundraising and stewardship organization, tripling its budget and negotiating its first partnership agreement with the City. Earlier, she served as Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Development Officer at the New York Legal Assistance Group, helping to stand-up its major Superstorm Sandy response effort.