The Team

Richmond BridgePark Foundation is a Virginia non-stock corporation and registered 501(c)(3) organization. The Foundation recently opened offices in Riverfront Plaza downtown, which houses a scale model of the proposed site. The office regularly receives community leaders and student groups to learn more about the project and engage in educational programming around architecture, design, planning, and ideation. 

BridgePark is led by president, Ted Elmore, former partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, who left the partnership to dedicate his time to the Foundation. Ted recently delivered a TEDx talk about the project.

Ted reports to a Board of Directors of community leaders, artists, activists, and innovators:

Charlie Agee
Retired, Former Director of Corporate Citizenship, Altria

Melissa Bradner
MD, MSHA, Family Medicine and Population Health, VCU Health 

J. Dontrese Brown
Executive Vice President & Chief Growth Officer, Tilt Creative + Production; Co-Founder BROWNBAYLOR™️ & Hidden In Plain Site

Jeff Fitch
Sales Manager, PGA Tour; Former Director of Development, Sports Backers

Rodney Gaines
RVA Thrives Collaboration Coordinator, Virginia Community Voice

Risa Gomez
First Vice President, Davenport & Company; Licensee and Curator,
TEDxGraceStreetWomen; Communications Director, RVA MakerFest

Bernard Harkless
Principal, Lynx Ventures; Co-founder, Hatch Kitchen RVA

Selamawit Hailu
CEO, Founder, The Human Connection; Community Mobilization Manager, Capital One

Shekinah Mitchell
Community Liaison for Equity, Virginia Early Childhood Foundation;
Former Neighborhood Partnerships Manager, Virginia LISC

Katherine O'Donnell
Deputy Director, Richmond Region Tourism

Jay Paul
Co-founder, Buddy (Insurance for Outdoor Enthusiasts)

Sheri Shannon
Director, Shannon Strategies, LLC; Founder, Southside ReLeaf

Lisa Sims
CEO, Venture Richmond

Richard Souter
Principal, WVS (Real Estate Development)

James Warren
Founder, CEO; Share More Stories;
Vice President, Brand Strategy, JMI

Anne Westbrook
Executive Vice President, Client Service and Marketing, Heitman (Real Estate Investment)

An award-winning architecture, design and landscape firm led by Peter Culley with offices in Richmond, Los Angeles and London. Recent projects include the 1.5 million square foot Crosstown Concourse masterplan and Crosstown Arts complex in Memphis, architecture and site furnishings for the Metropolitan Museum’s 5th Avenue Plaza, Great Hall and Met Breuer Lobby in New York, and ongoing work for top advertising firm TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles. Before starting Spatial Affairs Bureau, Peter Culley, as associate director for Rick Mather Architects, was the project architect for Richmond’s VMFA expansion by Rick Mather + SMBW.

www.spatialaffairsbureau.com

An international integrated engineering firm operating in 23 locations worldwide, with over 50 partners and 1,800 employees including some of the world’s leading consulting engineers. Projects include Zaha Hadid’s City of Dreams Development in Macau, London’s Olympic Park, The High Line in NY, O2 Arena in London, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. 

www.burohappold.com

A leading traffic and transportation planning and engineering firm specializing in developing context-sensitive transportation solutions for government, private-sector, not-for-profit, and community clients and strives to balance the needs and improve the quality of life for all users, including drivers, pedestrians, transit riders, and cyclists. The organization has been a pivotal player in some of the most significant multi-modal transport rethinks in the United States and beyond.

www.samschwartz.com

Gardiner and Theobald is an independent construction and property consultancy working across all sectors of the built environment, focussing on minimising risk and creating opportunities to maximise the value of developments and property assets. They provide cost management, project management and schedule control for projects in public and private sectors and have been instrumental in understanding cost and project management issues for numerous public initiatives including Brooklyn Bridge Park and Pier 55 in New York. 

www.gardiner.com