Joanne Witty's background and experience bridges both the public and private sectors. She has served in city and state government, in the Budget Bureau during Mayor John Lindsay's administration and in the New York State Office of Court Administration at its inception. Trained as a lawyer, Ms. Witty practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton and was a Resident Counsel at The Ford Foundation. She also managed a family manufacturing business. Ms. Witty has been a long-time environmental activist, serving for many years on the Board of the national League of Conservation Voters (where she was Vice Chairman) and now on the Board of the Environmental Defense Action Fund. She has been a central figure in the creation of Brooklyn Bridge Park, as President of the local development corporation that created the Master Plan, as a Director of the New York State agency that began construction of the Park, and now as a Director of the new Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation that will complete construction and operate the Park. Ms. Witty received her A.B. from Barnard College and her J.D. from Columbia Law School. She lives in Brooklyn Heights with her spouse, Eugene Keilin.