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KEY STAFF
Kenneth Barbour, Greening Assistant
A lifelong DC resident, Kenny Barbour assists all aspects of maintenance and improvements at Marvin Gaye Park, the Riverside Center, and numerous park and greening sites across the city.
Jeffrey V. Catts, ASLA, Field Director Jeff Catts brings over 25 years of experience and design skills as a licensed Landscape Architect. During his career he has designed and managed the construction of significant projects including: a major expansion to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, a renovation master plan for Olmsted’s Fine Arts Gardens adjacent to the Cleveland Museum of Art, numerous college campus and urban park landscapes. Jeff’s work in the DC region has included program management for DDOT’s Anacostia Riverwalk Trail project and designing the Anacostia Community Boathouse Association facility which reclaimed and restored a major section of riparian buffer plantings along the river. In 2011 Jeff left the private sector to follow his passion for working more ‘on the ground’ with communities by joining the staff of Parks & People. He has designed, coordinated and helped plant over 1500 native trees throughout the District with our DC Green Corps, and he has helped design and install numerous community and school gardens as well as the new landscape at Parks & People's Josephine Butler Parks Center. Jeff is a graduate of Penn State University and is a 7-year resident of Adams Morgan.
Stephen W. Coleman, Executive Director
Steve Coleman has led Washington Parks & People’s award-winning alliance of community-based greening partnerships since it began as a volunteer neighborhood park crime patrol in 1990. In 30 years of non-profit service, he has been a vice president and director of research for a national organization, program director of an international environmental advocacy network , staff officer for a national foundation, a fundraising consultant for environmental media initiatives, a community organizer, and an intern reporter for Public Broadcasting’s MacNeil/ Lehrer Report. Here in Washington, Steve served on the Environmental Planning Commission and was an elected officer of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, Washington Innercity Self Help (WISH), and the city-wide Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners Assembly. He is the current chair of Parks for Life, the international urban parks alliance, and has served as a Trustee of the City Parks Alliance and the National Recreation and Park Association, faculty member of the American Planning Association’s City Parks Forum and the Urban Open Space Leadership Institute, and keynote speaker on urban greening in 20 cities across three continents. He began leading community tree-planting and environmental reclamation projects at the age of 12, and had his first job with a small timber company at the age of 19. Born in India, Steve has lived in DC's diverse Reed-Cooke neighborhood for 30 years.
Behnam Mehrabkhani, Foreman
Behnam Mehrabkhani has helped train and coordinate thousands of Parks & People volunteers helping in all aspects of park and landscape revitalization and building restoration and construction. He came to Parks & People in 2001 as a refugee from Iran, helping to assist the award-winning exterior restoration of the Josephine Butler Parks Center before he could speak more than a few words of English. Prior to coming to the United States, Behnam supervised a staff of 18 machinists in a Teheran factory and worked as a welder in Turkey. He is fluent in Persian and Turkish.
RonDell D. Pooler, Field Coordinator
Abby Snyder, Program Manager
Abby Snyder is the point of contact for all events in the Parks Center, the Riverside Center, the North Columbia Heights Green, and the Marvin Gaye Community Greening Center. She grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Western Maryland, where her love for nature and environmentalism developed at a young age. She graduated from Dickinson College with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a focus in Sustainable Agriculture. After fighting the good fight for Greenpeace on the streets of Philadelphia, she hopped across the Atlantic and landed in a small rural village in Togo, West Africa, where she served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer. Collaborating with local counterparts, she honed her community organizing skills and worked to improve food security issues by implementing innovative agroforestry techniques. As a Columbia Heights resident, she recently worked to create a thriving green economy as Business Outreach Manager with our partner Live Green. She put her event management and community engagement skills to work as she organized community events such as the Green Living Expo DC. Abby loves spending time outdoors and seeks to help advance community-based approaches to making the world sustainable and just for all.
Jim Wallace, Director of Finance & Administration Jim Wallace is a CPA with Advanced Quickbooks and Microsoft certification. He has many years experience working with accounting systems and technology for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as his own consulting and property management. As Director of Finance and Administration, he manages the day to day financial activities for WPP, annual audit and financial reporting, as well as supporting other members of the team with administrative and technology issues.