Bridget is one of APC’s co-founders. She served as the Executive Director of Friends of Metro Parks from 2011 to 2022, the Director of Volunteer Programs with the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park from 2008 to 2011 and Executive Director of Cascade Locks Park Association from 2001 to 2008. She has served on the boards of Torchbearers and Rotary Camp and on the Interpretation Subcommittee for the Ohio & Erie Canalway Association. She is the current President of the Board of Trustees for Spring Garden Waldorf School where her children attend. Bridget has a BA from John Carroll University and an MA in Environmental Studies from the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. She lives in Akron’s Wallhaven neighborhood, regularly frequenting Hardesty and Forest Lodge Parks with her husband, two children and dog, Gromit.

Ariana joined APC in 2022, shortly after earning her MS in Social Administration from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. During her time at CWRU, she was an Organizing Fellow at the ACLU of Ohio and an Organizing & Policy Intern at Organize! Ohio. Prior to graduate school, she received her BA from the University of Akron and worked as a Behavioral Health Specialist (QMHP) at The Centers for Families and Children. Ariana is a proud Akronite and feels passionate about forging connections between community members and building power around our shared city park spaces. She loves her neighborhood in Highland Square, where she resides with her cat, Lucy.

Zion joined APC as the project manager in landscape management. Zion currently works as an Extended Care Lead Teacher at Spring Garden Waldorf School. She has worked as a medical interpreter, ESL instructor, and tutor. She was involved in mission work and travelled extensively. Zion carries three Bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics, British & American Language and Literature, and Life Science. Her passion is foodscaping with native plants and ecological gardening. She recently moved into a newly built home in the Cascade Valley neighborhood of Akron. You will find her and her dog, Journey, hard at work gardening and playing fetch in their yard or taking a stroll at BARC, Akron Dog Park.