The Bolsa Chica Conservancy in Huntington Beach has a new executive director. It’s Carissa Macias. She was a marine biology graduate from Cal State Long Beach, and started her career with the California State Parks as an interpretive specialist in Carpinteria, California, after college. Carissa realized that she had a passion for outdoor education and programming. “However, at the time full time jobs were few and far between at the state level so I made the decision to return to the Long Beach area and started working in the non-profit sector,” said Macias.
She worked her way from being a program coordinator (Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles) to a program manager (Newport Bay Conservancy) through experience at various non-profits.
After running programs for about 10 years, she jumped back to the government sector and took a position as the Natural Resources supervisor for the city of Newport Beach. “When the opportunity came to return to non-profit work, I gladly accepted the position of the executive director with the Bolsa Chica Conservancy,” she said.
Carissa lives in Garden Grove after being in Los Alamitos for a decade. She has two kids ages 10 and 6. Her husband is a biologist at California State University Long Beach. She has a dog (Willow) and a cat (Bucky Barnes) and likes to enjoy the outdoors going to the kids’ sports practices and games or playing at the park, or indoors watching movies. She is an avid reader and swings in a hammock. Her family likes to travel when possible either camping and exploring or staying in a hotel, as long as there’s an adventure to be had.
Patrick Brenden, former executive director of the Conservancy said: “I think she is outstanding. Her background, experience, education coupled with her enthusiasm for the mission and for development of staff will make her a great leader for our Bolsa Chica community.”
You can come to the Conservancy Education Center at: 3842 Warner Ave., in Huntington Beach every Monday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
If you’d like to contact Carissa you can call her at: (714) 846-1114. Her e-mail address is: carissa@bolsachica.org.
