Rose Harvey, Senior Fellow, Parks & Open Space, leads New City Parks, a program incubated at Regional Plan Association. Under the program, Rose will identify and set up opportunities to create and revitalize parks within neighborhoods that are currently underserved by green spaces in Northeastern and legacy cities.

Prior to joining RPA, Rose served as Commissioner of the Office of New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Appointed by Governor Cuomo in 2011, Rose oversaw the revitalization, creation, programming, and operations of more than 250 parks and historic sites. She helped create and execute Gov. Cuomo’s $1 billion ​“Parks 2020” capital improvement program to rejuvenate and transform the New York State Parks system, which had been in a 40-year decline with 99 parks proposed for closing. Rose also established innovative public-private partnerships with organizations such as Major League Baseball and the American Red Cross through the ​“Connect Kids” program, and drove forward efficiency measures and special administration initiatives, including the creation of the Empire State Trail, the Equal Rights Historic Center in Auburn, NY, and the LGBT Memorial. New York State Parks system saw a 28% increase in visitation during Rose’s two-term tenure.

Before moving to the public sector, Rose held multiple leadership positions with The Trust for Public Land, beginning as a community organizer, rising to Senior Vice President and Regional Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region, and finally as National Director of Urban Programs. Under her leadership, TPL’s Mid-Atlantic Region established with community partners over $1 billion of new rural, regional, and urban parks, 300 of which are urban gardens and playgrounds in underserved neighborhoods.

Rose also served as the McCluskey Fellow and Lecturer at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and as a senior fellow at the Jonathan Rose Companies. She sits on the Board of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation as well as the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Advisory Council. Rose holds a B.A. from Colorado College and an M.E.S. from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (FES). Her hobbies include family excursions to State Parks, basketball, tennis, and hiking.