Speaker

Kathy Abbott

President and CEO | Boston Harbor Now

Kathy Abbott is the first president and CEO of Boston Harbor Now, an organization that partners with public agencies, community leaders, businesses and other nonprofits to realize Boston Harbor’s potential to benefit the city and region. Upon assuming this role, Abbott has come full circle since beginning her career in college on the Harbor Islands as a park ranger to currently leading Boston Harbor Now. She is responsible for working with the board and staff to create a welcoming and resilient harbor that benefits everyone in the Greater Boston region. Abbott has a history of leading change through public and nonprofit organizations, including advancing statewide park planning, management and land conservation, educating students and impacting resource-based economies in primarily developing countries through applied environmental studies, creating a new national park through a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership in Boston Harbor, creating and managing a statewide park system, increasing funding for public parks in Massachusetts, and growing the impact of the only year-round botanic garden in New England. She asserts that she has never done this work alone and credits great teams and collaborations for her success.

Abbott has worked locally and globally and volunteered nationally to advance the interests of urban parks as the co-chair of the City Parks Alliance. Her experience as an executive and entrepreneur in government and nonprofits uniquely qualifies her to build upon the successes of the current waterfront renaissance. Her proudest accomplishments have come as a volunteer working with kids throughout her career, as a former foster mother and now as a proud mom of a 30-year-old daughter. In 2016, she was named one of Boston’s Power 50 by the Boston Business Journal, and in 2018, was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston by Boston Magazine. She received her degrees from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at University of Massachusetts Amherst and Harvard University.

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