Friends Leadership Council

Parks & Trails New York launched a pilot initiative in 2021 to develop a steering committee of Friends groups.  Dubbed the Friends Leadership Council, this advisory committee strives to strengthen Friends organizations and therefore enhance stewardship of New York state parks, historic sites, and public lands.

Goals & Objectives

The Leadership Council’s activities focus on information sharing and dialogue, capacity building, identifying best-practice resources, and providing a unified voice for Friends groups across the state. In 2023, the Council entered a new phase of development, focusing on fostering more robust conversations, expanding its membership to include more Friends group voices, and identifying opportunities to strengthen collaboration through our network of grassroots groups across the Empire State. The Leadership Council is focusing on:

• Increasing positive communications with state agencies (OPRHP and DEC)
• Informing Friends-to-Friends workshops, best-practice webinars and PTNY events
• Fostering the development of our “Peer-to-Peer Network” 
• Advising updates to our Best Practices Manual and Friends Gateway Resource Library

The 2025 Leadership Council

This year's iteration of Friends Leadership Council will focus primarily on collaborating with PTNY staff to help plan the fall Regional Friends Gatherings. These four "mini-conferences" will be held in various regions throughout the state from September through November. Having representatives from Friends groups in each region contributing their local knowledge will be valuable for each event. The Council meets once per month and will be present at their regional gathering.

2025 Leadership Council Members