We are excited to announce that Kathleen Baker, who has been RPL’s Managing Director, has been named Executive Director for Runners for Public Lands.

Below is a message from Vic Thasiah, RPL’s Board President:

The RPL Board of Directors is excited to announce Kathleen Baker‘s promotion to Executive Director of Runners for Public Lands. Kat has been RPL’s Managing Director since June, 2022, after serving on RPL’s Board of Directors. She has led RPL from a regional runner-led environmental organization to the nation’s leading advocacy organization representing runners in protecting the environment.

Her dedication, leadership, and management of RPL continues to inspire both board members and myriad volunteers. “Kat’s development of relationships on behalf of RPL across a wide range of diverse partners in the running and environmental space—BIPOC, government, corporate, nonprofit, etc.—has been particularly remarkable, especially as we seek to broadly represent runners in the United States,” says board president Vic Thasiah.

As the RPL board starts to see to the implementation of its new strategic plan, it looks to Kat as the organization’s new executive director to lead the way.
You can read more about Kat and RPL’s vision for the future in this article, “Going National,” written by Kat for Running Insight. Join us in celebrating Kat, all the work she’s done for RPL to-date, and where she’s taking our efforts.