Cara Lambright serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of New Orleans’ City Park Conservancy, overseeing one of the largest urban parks in the nation, hosting millions of visitors a year and countless sporting events, weddings, festivals and concerts. Cara comes to the role with an extensive background in park operations, capital planning, programming, public engagement, and fundraising for public spaces. In her first two years at City Park, she transitioned the park to a nonprofit Conservancy model, streamlining operations and opening the door to fundraising.  Now in her third year, she has launched a comprehensive long-range master planning process in conjunction with nationally recognized landscape architectural firm, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates that seeks to restore the health of City Park. Prior to this, Cara was Executive Vice President for Houston-based Memorial Park Conservancy, managing all aspects of operations, and helping to execute a nationally recognized master plan.  She is deeply involved in the field of urban parks, from consulting start-up conservancies to leading regional workshops.  She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, certified in Urban Park Executive Leadership though CUNY and the Central Park Institute, certified in nonprofit accounting, is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum, and a citizen of the Chickasaw Indian Nation.