![Kids playing in Crissy Field](https://www.parksconservancy.org/sites/default/files/block/images/Crissy%20Field_Kids.jpg)
![Christine Lehnertz, president and CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, stands at Crissy Marsh](https://www.parksconservancy.org/sites/default/files/press-coverage/christine-lehnertz-04_750xx5830-3279-0-297.jpg)
Christine Lehnertz has always held a deep appreciation for the outdoors. The president and CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy has a long career in public service, starting in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1990 and later for 12 years with the National Park Service. The conservancy was formed in 1981 as the nonprofit arm that supports the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It has raised over $624 million since it started to further its mission of access to the city’s parks. But for Lehnertz, it’s all about the mission. “The challenge that’s the biggest is continuously reminding people of our mission. It’s really easy to get caught up in the day to day, and I think that as the leader, you have to be the absolute truest believer in the mission. And you have to speak it over and over and over again,” said Lehnertz. Her latest accolade is the Presidio Tunnel Tops project, which opened to the public July 17.