Los Angeles Park Foundation executive director Carolyn Ramsay has served in her position since 2018. (photo courtesy of Carolyn Ramsay)

Few individuals have made a larger footprint in Los Angeles than Carolyn Ramsay, who has served as the executive director the Los Angeles Parks Foundation since 2018. Previously, Ramsay was well known within the community for having served as former Councilman Tom LaBonge’s chief of staff. Now, Ramsay is retiring from her position and moving away from the city after more than 30 years as an L.A. resident.

“My husband Andy Goodman, a public interest consultant, sold his business and retired a few months ago,” Ramsay said. “We had always planned to move to New York City when we retired because we both come from large families and most of our siblings, nieces and nephews live in the New York area.  Andy’s opportunity to sell his business accelerated our schedule by a couple of years.”

The Los Angeles Business Journal also recently named Ramsay its nonprofit executive (mid-sized organization) of the year.

“Carolyn understands that the biggest impact we can have on our city is to invest in our own backyard,” said Debora Vrana, communication committee chair of the Los Angeles Parks Foundation Board and chief communications officer of City National Bank. “She led the Los Angeles Parks Foundation with an unwavering commitment to Angelenos and she worked tirelessly to build a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive Los Angeles. She oversaw the development of 350 Clippers Community Courts and brought micro-forests to our most vulnerable communities.  We have all benefited from her work and will continue to do so for generations to come. I’m so proud to serve on her board and call her my friend.”

Ramsay said that she feels “bittersweet” about leaving the L.A. Parks Foundation.

“I have been very happy [there] for five years. Andy and I will both miss Los Angeles, as well, but are excited about taking this adventure together. I have met and worked with extraordinary, interesting, smart and fun people in Los Angeles and many are doing cutting-edge, exciting work.  We have been very lucky to live in a tight-knit community on Norton Avenue in Windsor Square.  We’ll miss our neighbors and I’ll miss my wonderful team at work and the excitement of engaging in a transformative improvement in a city park.”

Ramsay said that the foundation is conducting an executive search to fill her position and she is confident they’ll find “a great new leader.”

Her legacy, though, will be in the ways in which she has expanded parks and green spaces throughout the city. In March, she told the Beverly Press that “the more densely populated the city gets, the more important our parks are.”

Under her leadership, the 450 city parks in Los Angeles were preserved, maintained and expanded for residents to enjoy for years to come.