River Fields Welcomes New President & CEO

Louisville, Kentucky—Louisville-based River Fields has named Kristin Faurest the next
president and CEO of the 65-year-old nonprofit, effective May 7. Faurest will replace Meme
Sweets Runyon, who announced her retirement after leading the organization for 38 years.
“The board participated in a thoughtful and exhaustive search to identify just the right leader to
take River Fields into its next phase of service to our community,” said Logan Ormerod, chair of
River Fields’ board of directors. “Kristin’s entrepreneurial spirit and true passion for engaging
the community around advocacy and conservation are perfectly aligned with River Fields’
interests as we look toward the future.”

Faurest, a national award-winning public garden professional, stood out to the River Fields search committee for her breadth of experience in advocacy, programming, community outreach, advancement, and strategic planning. She is also a landscape architecture writer, researcher, and educator with a long record of advocating for sustainable thinking, equity, and conservation.

“For nearly four decades, Meme has been a tireless advocate for protecting, preserving, and enhancing the natural and cultural resources on both sides of the Ohio River for the public benefit,” said Ormerod. “We owed it to her legacy and the future of River Fields to carefully consider our vision and who is best prepared to continue to bring it to life. We could not be more excited to work with Kristin.”

After graduating from the University of Louisville, Faurest earned a master’s degree from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, and later a Ph.D. in landscape architecture before establishing a landscape design company focusing on urban ecology, sustainable small spaces, educational landscapes, therapeutic gardens, and community participation processes. She went on to serve as director of the Japanese Garden Training Center at Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon before returning to Kentucky to lead the education team at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. Faurest most recently consulted for Origin Park/River Heritage Conservancy in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

“I grew up on the banks of the river in Arctic Springs in Jeffersonville and have a lifelong sacred relationship with the Ohio,” said Faurest. “It is an incredible honor to be entrusted with this
role, and I look forward to working with the board and our community to build on our legacy
and set out on our path forward.”