Mission and History
Converging Paths | Brand new running shoes
San Francisco’ parks and green open spaces are deserving of a world-class, independent nonprofit organization which holds the vision for our parks, aligns community needs and civic engagement with accountable City government management, and supports parks improvement through philanthropic investments.
The ongoing lack of adequate public funding and the corresponding decline in park conditions and amenities highlighted the need for a nonprofit organization which could facilitate the collaboration between residents and the City to improve parks and raise the visibility of parks and recreation as a vital public service. Increasingly, the City is also in need of a strong, independent partner to engage in on-going planning and policy development related to public lands and to bring best practices and solutions into the public dialogue on parkland.
Within this context of increasing demand for services and scarcity of resources, the two leading parks-serving organizations, Neighborhood Parks Council and San Francisco Parks Trust, joined forces in October 2011 to form the new San Francisco Parks Alliance. The new organization represents 55 years of combined experience in philanthropy, advocacy, park and open space policy, and community mobilizing.
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.
The Organization will be dedicated to fulfill a vision of parks that acknowledges and supports their critical environmental functions while striving to ensure that they are accessible, beautiful, safe, clean, and fun and managed in a manner that makes them accountable, open, and welcoming to all.
The San Francisco Parks Alliance’s goal is to ensure that volunteerism, civic engagement, advocacy, and philanthropy are coordinated and leveraged for the best possible outcome for parks and park users. Through coalition-driven policy and action, the new organization, based on some of the best practices of both organizations and those around the country, can better ensure that the needs of parks and all park users are equitably met. SFPA can eliminate duplication of efforts and achieve economies of scale, while working efficiently and with inspiration toward an enduring vision for San Francisco parkland for generations to come.
