Meloney McMurry: Executive Director

As FSP’s new Executive Director, Meloney brings broad experience in not-for-profit management and local government, having worked as an attorney, urban planner, local government official and community volunteer.

Meloney has always had a deep appreciation for our local parks and a love of planning and placemaking with a particular focus on access and equity. She was a member of FSP's Playground Leadership Committee for the playground capital campaign in 2017. Most recently, Meloney served as program manager of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Way2Go transportation education program, where she worked to find sustainable solutions to the region’s diverse transportation needs.

Previously, Meloney served the Village of Cayuga Heights as Deputy Mayor and as a Village Trustee, and is a current member of the VCH Planning Board. Meloney also served as the Chair of the Policy Committee of the Ithaca Tompkins County Transportation Council, working with other local leaders on county-wide transportation planning initiatives.

Before moving to Ithaca, Meloney worked as an urban planner in San Francisco, and spend almost a decade as a land use attorney in New York City. Meloney graduated from Harvard College and completed a law degree at Columbia University as well as a Masters of Urban Planning at NYU. Meloney is a former Girl Scout Troop Leader, a 4-H Club organizer, and an active school volunteer.

Meloney says it was when she previously served on the playground fundraising committee of Friends of Stewart Park that she learned first-hand about the great work that FSP does in our community.

Diana Riesman: Board President and Founding Board Member

DR at Picnic Pavilion by Julia 09-17 2.jpeg

On top of her Board responsibilities, Diana is actively involved in all aspects of FSP's day to day operations, specifically fundraising, event planning, and community outreach. She serves on all FSP's board committees including its Project Leadership Committee which focuses on fundraising and is comprised of non-board members.

Diana is also Executive Director and Co-Founder of Wharton Studio Museum, a local nonprofit partnered with Friends of Stewart Park to revitalize the city's main historic lakefront park, which includes developing the Wharton Studio Building, a former silent movie production studio, into a museum, café, and park center.

Diana spent more than a decade in the movie business in NYC and L.A., before going to work at KCRW in Santa Monica, CA -- one of the nation's most successful NPR affiliates—as co-producer of award-winning radio programs such as To The Point, Which Way, L.A.?, and Hollywood Wrap.

In 2001, after moving to Ithaca, NY—and falling in love with it overnight—Diana founded The Nest, a preschool program now in its eighteenth year of operation, and in 2014 she completed her third term as an elected Trustee in the Village of Cayuga Heights. She serves on Historic Ithaca's Marketing Committee and is a member of Upstate Women in Film & Television (UPWIFT) and New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT).

Janelle Alvstad-Mattson: Communications Director

A long-time community advocate, Janelle has shaped and grown Friends of Stewart Park’s voice since 2018.

A proud former Minnesotan, she moved to Ithaca in 2007 and quickly became well-known for connecting and engaging families with all Ithaca has to offer. She’s worked in communications and customer service for nearly 20 years, and has served on several local non-profit boards and councils, as well as created and/or maintained their websites and social media accounts.

Janelle enjoys watching and performing theatre and music; skiing, swimming and paddling; spending time with her family; and exploring the less frequented areas of Stewart Park, like the far east shore and the trails of Renwick Wildwood.

Tim Wells: Administrator and Finance Coordinator

Rick Manning: Co-Founder and Emiritus Executive Director

As Co-Founder and Executive Director of FSP and Founder of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative, Rick Manning was instrumental in shaping our Park and Trail as we see it today. Now retired as ED, Rick remains with FSP in a consulting capacity.

Rick studied horticulture at the University of Rhode Island and coordinated community gardening programs in Austin, TX, before receiving a Masters in Landscape Architecture from Cornell University in 1987.

Rick worked for Trowbridge & Wolf Landscape Architects for 13 years before starting his own consulting practice in 2000. In 2001, Rick founded the Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative at the Tompkins Chamber Foundation and led the community’s planning, design and fundraising efforts during the fifteen year trail development process. His CWT work brought him often to Stewart Park, where the need for revitalization was evident. Rick joined with Scott Wiggins to form Friends of Stewart Park with a goal of organizing financial and volunteer support for park improvements.

In his non-working hours, Rick enjoys playing and performing music on his fiddle and mandolin, taking bike trips with his wife Sally, and visiting his son Thomas in the DC area.