News: Andrea Mackenzie to lead Santa Clara County Open Space Authority

We are thrilled to share that the seven-member Santa Clara County Open Space Authority Board has unanimously voted to appoint Andrea Mackenzie, as the Authority’s next General Manager.  Andrea is currently serving as the Chair of the Open Space Council's Executive Committee and provides strategic leadership, thoughtful guidance, and real support to our organization.  

Congratulations Andrea!

Andrea has a long history in the protection and preservation of open space.  For the past 25 years, she has been working on regional land use planning, open space protection and conservation policy challenges in California.  Uniquely qualified to head the Open Space Authority, she is the former General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (2000-2009) and in 2006 led the successful effort to reauthorize the District’s ¼ percent sales tax, which was overwhelmingly approved by  76 percent of the voters. 

Andrea has worked for resource conservation districts, the National Park Service, the City and County of San Francisco and the East Bay Regional Park District. Most recently, she served as project director to the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County to develop a blueprint for conserving the county’s most important biological and water resources, farmlands and recreational areas.  She is a past fellow of the National Conservation Leadership Institute in Shepherdstown, W. VA.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from U.C. Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in Urban Planning and Natural Resources from U.C.L.A. 

Andrea will take the helm as General Manager of the Open Space Authority on Monday, April 18th.  

 

Photo by Rob Brodman.