Founding CEO AG Lafley Rejoins The Bay Park Conservancy as Chief Executive Officer
BPC President and CEO Stephanie Crockatt steps down to pursue other opportunities
The Bay Park Conservancy (BPC), the non-profit organization responsible for designing and developing 53 acres of City-owned land on Sarasota Bay into a signature park, and then operating, maintaining and programming the park as it opens to the public, has announced that President and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Crockatt has stepped down to pursue other opportunities.
The BPC Board has asked AG Lafley, Founding BPC CEO, to rejoin as CEO, effective immediately. Lafley served as volunteer chair of the Sarasota Bayfront Planning Organization master planning committee (SBPO), and then as volunteer BPC Founding CEO between December 2019 and May 2023.
Jennifer Compton, BPC Board Chair said, “I appreciate Stephanie’s efforts and wish her the best in her next endeavor. The Board is confident that AG will pick up where he left off and progress the park and Conservancy’s plans and priorities. I look forward to The Bay continuing to be a beloved gathering place for our community by delighting park guests every day with all the park has to offer.”
Lafley says, “I am proud of what the BPC has accomplished thus far to create this signature ‘one park for all.’ Working with the many partners and the BPC team to build on this momentum, I fully expect we will continue delighting park guests who visit the current park; make the Bay Park Conservancy sustainable in every way – financially, operationally and environmentally; and build “more park for all” with Phase 2 and beyond.”
Crockatt, who joined BPC as its first full-time President and CEO in May 2023, was previously Executive Director of Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy in Buffalo, New York. Crockatt said, “I have complete faith that the leadership team will continue to carry the vision of the community forward and that The Bay will thrive and achieve its full potential.” The Bay recently celebrated its one-year anniversary of the first 10-acre phase of the park which opened in October 2022. More than 250,000 people visited the park in the first year. Design and development of Phase 2, the next 14-acre $65 million development, is underway and will be completed over the next 3 years. Phase 2 includes a revitalized Cultural District along Tamiami Trail, an extended resilient shoreline along Sarasota Bay, a magnificent Sunset Pier and the addition of day docks north of 10th Street. Phase 2 capital improvements are fully funded through a $48 million Tax Increment Funded (TIF)-backed bond and other government grants.
