The Trust for Governors Island

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is the 501(c)(3) non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion cre­at­ed by the City of New York respon­si­ble for the plan­ning, oper­a­tions and ongo­ing devel­op­ment of Gov­er­nors Island. The Trust’s mis­sion is to real­ize the full poten­tial of Gov­er­nors Island for the inspi­ra­tion and enjoy­ment of all New York­ers, demon­strat­ing a bold vision for pub­lic space.

Since its trans­fer from fed­er­al to local con­trol in 2003, Gov­er­nors Island has under­gone one of the most remark­able trans­for­ma­tions in New York City’s his­to­ry. The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and the City of New York, work­ing in part­ner­ship with the Nation­al Park Ser­vice and the non-prof­it Friends of Gov­er­nors Island, have worked to build over 43 acres of new, award-win­ning park space, cre­at­ed pub­lic pro­grams and com­mis­sioned art­works to wel­come near­ly 1M vis­i­tors annu­al­ly from all five bor­oughs of New York City, reha­bil­i­tat­ed his­toric build­ings in part­ner­ship with edu­ca­tion­al and cul­tur­al ten­ants, and invest­ed in infra­struc­ture to ready the Island for its next chapter.

Fol­low­ing near­ly two decades of plan­ning and invest­ment, the Trust is embark­ing on a growth strat­e­gy cen­tered on trans­for­ma­tive arts and cul­ture, extra­or­di­nary open space, and edu­ca­tion and research focused on the cli­mate cri­sis. These efforts will togeth­er advance the mis­sion of the Trust to con­tin­ue Gov­er­nors Island’s trans­for­ma­tion as an extra­or­di­nary pub­lic place, sup­port­ing year-round pub­lic access and cre­at­ing a path towards finan­cial sustainability.

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is pur­su­ing six goals to ensure that Gov­er­nors Island will be pre­served and enhanced for the enjoy­ment of all New York­ers for gen­er­a­tions to come:

• Make Gov­er­nors Island a dynam­ic and acces­si­ble pub­lic place year-round, with the same vibran­cy in the win­ter as the summer
• Cre­ate a path toward finan­cial sus­tain­abil­i­ty through respon­si­ble part­ner­ships with like-mind­ed orga­ni­za­tions and institutions
• Cel­e­brate and uti­lize Gov­er­nors Island’s unique envi­ron­ment and water­front loca­tion as a pub­lic liv­ing laboratory
• Pro­mote a diver­si­ty of uses that com­ple­ment and enhance Gov­er­nors Island’s unique character
• Expand oppor­tu­ni­ties for pub­lic par­tic­i­pa­tion and engagement
• Main­tain access and afford­abil­i­ty for all New Yorkers

Board Mem­bers

Ali­cia Glen, Chair
Alice Blank
Chris­t­ian Bra­ne­on
Wendy Braw­er
Karen Brooks Hop­kins
Tim Caw­ley
Car­olee Fink
Gau­rav Kapa­dia
Ben­jamin Lawsky
James Kel­ly McGowan
Susan Mer­can­det­ti
Daniel Nei­dich
Marc Nor­man
Michael Oppen­heimer
Tokum­bo Shobowale
Daniel Squadron
Carl Weis­brod

Senior Staff

Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO
Willa Pad­gett, Chief Finan­cial Offi­cer
Jen­nifer Rentas, Chief Oper­at­ing Offi­cer
Chris Tep­per, Chief Devel­op­ment Offi­cer
Daniel Hant­man, Gen­er­al Coun­sel
Sarah Krautheim, Senior Vice Pres­i­dent, Pub­lic Affairs
Alex Brady, Vice Pres­i­dent, Real Estate & Plan­ning
Lau­ren Haynes, Vice Pres­i­dent, Gov­er­nors Island Arts and Head Cura­tor
Will John­son, Jr., Vice Pres­i­dent, Design & Con­struc­tion
Don­na Matthew, Vice Pres­i­dent, Human Resources & DEIA Officer