About
The mission of the San Francisco Parks Alliance (SFPA) is to inspire and promote civic engagement and philanthropy to protect, sustain, and enrich San Francisco parks, recreation, and green open spaces.
Why We Value Parks | Why we believe everyone should
Our parks, open spaces and recreational facilities are critical public resources that enhance urban life. They are essential to sustain the human spirit. We envision a park system in San Francisco that supports this critical environmental function, is accessible, beautiful, safe, clean, fun, and welcoming to all. We envision that all San Franciscans are represented by a powerful, authoritative, transparent and independent voice that ensures our park system is managed in an accountable manner; and that engages San Franciscans in philanthropy, volunteerism and civic leadership that nurtures our parks for ourselves and for the generations who will follow us.
Parks are for ALL People
Our parks, open spaces and recreational facilities are critical public resources that enhance urban life. They are essential to sustain the human spirit. We envision a park system in San Francisco that supports this critical environmental function, is accessible, beautiful, safe, clean, fun, and welcoming to all. Every San Franciscan deserves ready access to parks, recreation facilities and green open spaces that are safe, clean, and invigorating. We give voice to all San Franciscans who love their parks.
Great Parks make a Great City
Our parks are essential to the human spirit. They enhance urban life, provide natural habitats that connect us to nature, and provide recreation opportunities nurture our physical and mental health, and are a key contributor to the City’s economy.
Parks for the Next Seven Generations
We are the beneficiaries of the investments and visionary leadership of the previous seven generations of San Franciscans who built an incomparable park system. We are the stewards of our parks for the next seven generations who follow us. We have seen great changes in how San Franciscans use their parks, and must keep them dynamic and adaptable to ever-changing needs in the future.
Parks Need Our Love
We San Franciscans take prideful ownership of our park system. We encourage that sense of ownership through service in caring for our parks, through private philanthropy to enhance our parks, through public discourse to protect our parks, and through the sheer enjoyment of using our parks.
Great Parks Need Great Partners
Our park system both needs and deserves support beyond that provided by government alone. Engaging San Franciscans in loving their parks requires partnerships, built through a clearly defined social compact.
The Social Compact for our Parks
In pursuit of these Core Values, we seek a strong, well-defined social compact among the people of San Francisco and our government that drives our actions. This compact includes:
-Philanthropy that enables all of us to invest in improving our parks
-Advocacy to ensure appropriate public support for our parks, and that those resources are used as effectively as possible
-Partnerships that leverage our individual capabilities for the greater good
-Volunteerism that leads to deeper and more committed civic engagement
-Wisdom fueled by data-driven decision-making, transparent communication, listening to others, education, innovation, and constantly striving for effectiveness.
