Pat O'Brien is the General Manager of the East Bay Regional Park District which operates 59 parks totaling over 93,000 acres in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties with 235 miles of shoreline and over 1,000 miles of trails. As a manager of a regional park and open space district serving 2.4 million residents he is responsible for the planning of park and open space with over thirty cities, two counties, and a number of State and Federal agencies.
Pat has been a champion of developing unique and successful partnerships and collaborations with non-profit organizations, prominent universities, community college districts and other public agencies to develop several large-scale parkland capital projects such as the creation of Camp Arroyo Environmental Education Center and Youth Camp in Livermore, California. The 138 acre camp, complete with state-of-the-art green residential facilities, is a partnership with the Taylor Family Foundation to provide young students as well as terminally ill children an exceptional nature and environmental learning experience. In recognition for these efforts, Pat was awarded the 2002 Professional of the Year on behalf of the national Recreation and Parks Association, Pacific Southwest Regional Council.
Pat has served as the Legislative Chairman of the California Park and Recreation Society and on the Northern California Greenway Board. He previously chaired the 1984 and 1986 California State Park Bond Information Program and the 1984 Senior Facilities Bond Park Information Program, and was CPRS Chair for the March 2000 California State Park Bond (Proposition 12) Information Program for Northern California.