New Executive Director of River Park JPA

Building on the success of the “Get to 71” campaign, Leana is determined to secure funding to move the program from planning to construction. A big priority is to continue the work of her predecessor, Shawna Anderson, to complete the Osuna Valley Trail Segment and bridge .

Drawing on her passion for environmental education, Leana is set to continue the Watershed Explorers Program next spring. She and her staff are discussing new initiatives to inspire connection to nature.

Then there’s the day-to-day business of running a regional park that encompasses 147 square miles and runs from Del Mar to Volcan Mountain near Julian.

As the park’s top executive and “its biggest protector,” Leana has worked her way up from the Park Ranger and Senior Interpretive Ranger positions she started in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

In those roles, she connected visitors to the park’s natural and cultural resources, expanded educational programming, strengthened community partnerships, supported volunteers and inspired new generations of watershed stewards.

A native of Encinitas, Leana as a child explored the scrubby backcountry that would later become the San Dieguito River Park. After losing her father at 16, Leana found solace in the Monarch Program, cementing her love of nature and butterflies.

“It all started with the butterflies,” Leana said.

After moving to Santa Cruz to earn her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Leana spent her summers working in Washington state as a lead biological technician, interpretive specialist and wildland firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service.

She later returned to San Diego, where she worked for private companies dedicated to conservation and habitat restoration before joining the River Park.

“Nature has been my everything,” Leana said. “People need to do everything they can to protect it, to give Mother Nature a voice. Once you care about it you want to protect it.”