Crystal Cove Conservancy 2023 Annual Report

Seastar spotted by student during “Trouble with Trash” program.

Crystal Cove Bird’s Eye View | MICHAEL BRYAN 2023 ©

THE THREATS TO PROTECTED LANDS AND WATERS ARE MORE COMPLEX AND MORE URGENT THAN EVER.

The work ahead is monumental and, at times, overwhelming. But the task of saving the world’s oceans, forests, and rivers – the habitats that sustain life – will be accomplished one acre at a time. People will become part of the solution through educating one student at a time. A workforce will be built one internship and one job at a time

From one resident spearheading a mission to save beachside cottages to a single 5th grader discovering their love for nature during a hike into the backcountry to an individual park visitor joining as a member for the first time, one by one, it adds up to real impact.

Crystal Cove Conservancy and Crystal Cove State Park thrive because of the work, the care, and the commitment of thousands of individuals giving what they can for what they believe in. Every supporter, every student, every volunteer makes a difference and moves our work ahead to what comes next

For over two decades, together, we’ve laid the infrastructure for what comes next: expanding our suite of science, engineering, and outdoor education programs, building career pathways for students from all backgrounds, and working together with partners as part of a robust conservation network to protect lands and waters that not only span the state, but the planet as a whole.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The place we call Crystal Cove State Park is located on the traditional and unceded lands and waters of the Acjachemen and Tongva Tribal Nations, both ocean-going peoples. As we work in partnership with Tribal members today, we hope that our collaborative work will uplift the voices and spirits of everyone dedicated to the protection of this place.

ONE

3 million

park visitors in 2023

8 22

North Beach Cottages restored & opened for public rental

11,659

high school, undergraduate & graduate interns embarked on career pathways studying the impact of fire, unauthorized trail usage, and raptor nesting in the park

49

students learned with The Conservancy’s educational programs

172

Title 1 schools participated in programs during the 2022-23 school year, representing 64% of total participants

stewardship volunteers worked to restore backcountry sites

Message from the CEO

Crystal Cove is a place that’s easy to love – and it usually doesn’t take long. It’s as much a place for quiet exploration and contemplative sitting as it is for big moments and raucous parties. It’s a place to stretch your legs, to stretch your mind, and to stretch your imagination.

Every day, we watch as people fall in love with Crystal Cove and make it theirs. One visitor at a time, one student at a time, one volunteer at a time, one supporter at a time – a vibrant community is growing up around Crystal Cove and a new generation of people are discovering the park, its tidepools, beaches, and backcountry trails, the beach cottages, and its diverse and vulnerable habitats.

And because it’s a park – because it’s a California State Park – they have all the time in the world to get to know it.

Students return year after year, exploring tidepools in 1st and 2nd grade, experimenting with ecological restoration techniques in 7th and 8th grade, evaluating water quality in the offshore Marine Protected Area in high school, and diving deep into natural resource management as interns. Cottage visitors check in as guests and return time and again for coffee on the deck, lunch on the beach, and sunset viewing. Folks come for a walk on the beach and return for long backcountry hikes and blufftop bike rides and long swims.

Your support has been, and remains, essential to our work. Together, we’ve made it possible for so many to discover and fall in love with Crystal Cove and with the natural world — to make memories, to explore nature, and to become a part of saving it all.

Kate Wheeler PRESIDENT & CEO

Conservation: One Acre At A Time

In conservation work, all good projects require adaptive management. As weather patterns emerge and certain species thrive, strategies have to be adapted. Just like a Coastal Sage Scrub habitat restoration project evolves over time, so should Crystal Cove Conservancy.

In September, Crystal Cove Conservancy welcomed Hallie Jones as its first Executive Vice President & Chief Program Officer. Hallie joined The Conservancy after 10 years as Executive Director of Laguna Canyon Foundation which followed 13 years at Heal the Bay, a marine conservation organization in Santa Monica. The blend of marine and terrestrial conservation experience Hallie brings is an essential organizational adaptation as The Conservancy shifts its main focus away from historic restoration toward a networked approach to conservation and advocacy and a broadening of our education programs.

As the last of the beach cottages are restored over the next two years, The Conservancy will focus on habitat restoration, marine conservation, and global environmental issues like climate resiliency and biodiversity. As we continue to deepen and expand our education programs, our work is also moving beyond education into stewardship. With boots on

the ground in partnership with California State Parks, we will expand our support and engagement in county-and regionwide conservation planning efforts.

In tandem with these efforts, we are also focused on deepening our work with Indigenous groups and partners to improve access to places sacred to the original inhabitants of Crystal Cove and incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into our education programs and stewardship work.

Our team of scientists will continue to build effective partnerships throughout the county and across the State, sharing knowledge and resources and adapting our conservation strategies to have impact beyond this gem of the California Coast. Like you, when we hike these trails and walk along these beautiful beaches, it’s clear to us there’s no better place to start.

Hallie Jones, Executive Vice President & Chief Program Officer

Canada horseweed in Crystal Cove State Park.

Students gathering water samples during an MPA Cruise.

Natural Resource Interns studying raptor nesting in Crystal Cove State Park.

CAREER PATHWAYS: ONE STEP AT A TIME

Each student who visits Crystal Cove makes a difference in the park and each visit is a step along a career pathway. In the 2022-2023 school year, our community science programs reached 76 schools, 11,659 students, and 85 Indigenous community members through 138 programs.

The Conservancy’s unique ladder of learning allows students to experience the magic of Crystal Cove multiple times, one rung at a time, throughout their K-12 years. Students who learn with us work alongside scientists and researchers on real environmental monitoring and restoration projects, setting up experiments, gathering data, building models, and creating solutions. They learn firsthand how the Cove is threatened and they begin to understand how one person can make a difference. They begin to see themselves as an essential part of the solution.

One grade, one class, and truly, one student at a time, our programs have grown into a powerhouse for inspiring and equipping budding environmental scientists. And now we get to see where they go!

Our career pathways programs inspire diverse and under-represented students to explore ways they can enter engineering, science, and conservation fields. They discover that not all scientists work in a

lab and wear white coats—our team of scientists explore backcountry trails and study oceans from the decks of fishing boats. Some of us even focus on mission-based and environmentally-themed art and literature. Students who learn with us, work alongside us, opening doors to careers they didn’t know existed.

High school students venture into the backcountry during our Fire Ecology Internship to study the impact of fire on our native habitats. This year, we’ll also study soil ecology and how wildfire impacts the bacteria and fungi in native soil. Our Natural Resource Internships allow undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral college students to design and tackle research projects in the park, like mapping kelp forests to overlay with water quality data, monitoring trails, mapping raptor nests or investigating burn scars, all moving them further along their own career pathways in conservation.

Since we launched our internship program, seven interns have continued their work in full-time natural resource careers, including some who have joined our team. From Brent Castanon passing on his knowledge in the field as he instructs our next generation of young learners, to Jen Mendez’s vision of how conservation will carry our work forward, we see more than ever how our students, one at a time, become our colleagues.

SCHOOL PROGRAMS: ONE RESEARCH QUESTION AT A TIME

Students gathering plankton samples during an MPA Cruise.

For over a decade, Crystal Cove Conservancy has brought students to Crystal Cove State Park for hands-on, science-based field experience rooted in California State teaching standards. From our Marine Protected Area (MPA) Science Cruise for middle and high schoolers to our K-2 coastal engineering program The Trouble with Trash, each of our programs aims to answer one specific research question, allowing each of our students to work as a field researcher or scientist. But it’s not just the time in the field that makes a difference. Our expert education staff works with each teacher for weeks before and after each field trip, providing continuing education, professional development, and the latest research on how to inspire students to think of themselves as oceanographers, engineers, and conservation scientists.

We’re already hiring students out of our college internship programs, but we dream of the day that we’ll hire a conservation professional whose passion for protecting the environment started on a Crystal Cove tidepool exploration in kindergarten, grew as an elementary schooler in our backcountry restoration program Project Crystal, deepened on an MPA Cruise as a middle schooler, and exploded as a high school or college intern. And we’re well on our way.

As we finish restoring the last of the cottages, The Conservancy’s focus on education and stewardship programs, along with a lasting dedication to conserving and protecting the ocean and open space will continue to deepen. This summer we will pilot our first coastal engineering summer camp for under-resourced high school students. In partnership with University of California, Irvine (UCI), we’ll bring students out for a week of field-based engineering curriculum, using Crystal Cove as an outdoor laboratory, and also giving students a chance to spend a day in the labs at UCI. As we continue to work in close partnership with UCI’s Samueli School of Engineering to develop a robust and innovative engineering program, students will learn by tackling some of our planet’s most significant environmental issues.

In addition to building out our Coastal Engineering Program, we’re also working with our partner, Newport Landing Sportfishing, to add a second boat to our marine science field trips focusing on coastal resilience and climate change impacts. And, with our partners at California State Parks, we’ll continue to remove invasive species, plant native plants, and study the most effective ways to restore native habitat in a changing climate.

By inspiring one kindergartner at a time, one college student at a time, or one teacher at a time, we’re not just making an impact at Crystal Cove State Park, we’re creating a future generation of scientists and conservationists that, together, will have impact beyond the park’s borders. Over the last decade, as we’ve built our education programs, we’ve seen firsthand that “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught.”

- Baba Dioum, Senegalese environmentalist

Newly restored North Beach Cottage #7.

Opening the North Beach: One Cottage at a Time

Each cottage at Crystal Cove State Park has a unique story. As the cottages are meticulously restored and the North Beach Cottage Restoration Project progresses, Crystal Cove Conservancy is bringing those stories back to life, one at a time.

This year, The Conservancy reached a tremendous milestone when the last tranche of funding was secured for the North Beach Cottage Restoration Project, allowing us to open the first group of eight cottages – the first new cottages opened in more than a decade.

Requiring a unique collaboration between community, corporations, and political leadership, the campaign to secure funding for the project was led by Crystal Cove Conservancy Founder, Laura Davick, as the chair of the capital campaign, with significant support from Assembly Member Cottie PetrieNorris whose efforts helped The Conservancy secure over $30 million, and from Bank of America which will invest more than $10 million through Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, closing the campaign to fund the project.

As the lights in the North Beach cottages have turned on, one by one, the North Beach is coming back to life with new purpose.

Over the years, revenue from overnight cottage rentals has helped provide modest support for The Conservancy’s STEM education and conservation programs. The addition of the newly restored cottages will flow more revenue to programs than ever before, supplementing foundation awards and philanthropic support, allowing more students to explore Crystal Cove State Park as a living laboratory. Each cottage brought back to life, means more students can learn with us and more programs can be developed to expand their learning.

The Conservancy’s work may have started as an effort to save historic beachside cottages, but the end-game was always to inspire one student at a time to love the natural world and see themselves as part of saving it.

BOARD

Teddie Ray Chair

Doug Le Bon Vice Chair

Richard Swinney Secretary

Eric Smyth Treasurer

Al Bennett

At-large Member, Mission Driven

Nate Chiaverini At-large Member

Shelley Thunen At-large Member

Anie Aklian Robinson

Alan Bedekar

Glenn Bozarth

Jeff Cole

Laura Davick

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM

Kate Wheeler President & Chief Executive Officer

STAFF

John Adamson

Alyssa Aldaz

Erin Andreatta

Vera Aslami

Sharlene Baker

Chris Beiro

Zachary Bonnin

Lauren Bordages

Erin Broughton

Ariel Brown

Kenneth Bugna

Haily Carino

Brent Castanon

Desi Chalmers

Janis Cole

Carlos Collins

Hallie Jones

Executive Vice President & Chief Program Officer

Magnus Egerstedt

Gavin Herbert

Sara Lowell

Mara Murray

Stephanie Quesada

Jerry Scheck

Caleb Silsby

Cyd Swerdlow

Stephen M. Zotovich

Austin Barrow Chief Operating Officer

Jordan Diemert

Georges Edouard

Gregory Foulkes

Randy Gamache

Carter Ghere

Alex Gonzalez

Laura Lanzi

Thanh Le

Azucena Martinez

Sabrina Medina

Marco Mejia Rodriguez

Jennifer Mendez

Caitlin Moore

Cindy Otto

Jesse Perez-Razo

Tara Peszt

Charlotte Ramming

Francisco Razo

Charles Rollins

Andy Schoembs

Judi Simon

Tom Taylor

Rachel Trujillo

Angelo Tuble

Chamely Victoriano

Elle Wallstein

Chelsea Webb

Christian Williams

Susan Woodworth

Matt Yrad

Kevin Pearsall Coastal District Superintendent V California State Parks

Laura Davick Founder, Crystal Cove Conservancy

Dan Gee President Emeritus, Crystal Cove Management Company

Stewardship volunteers pulling invasive mustard plants.

Newly restored North Beach Cottage 3 1/2.

THANK YOU TO THE COVE COMMUNITY

THANK YOU to everyone who gives so generously throughout the year! You are essential to moving our work forward – one donor at a time, one donation at a time, one dollar at a time.

LIFETIME GIVING

Donors who have given $25,000 or more are listed with cumulative lifetime giving totals.

$5M & ABOVE

Anonymous

California Coastal Commission

California Department of Parks and Recreation

California State Coastal Conservancy

New Home Company

$1M-$4,999,999

Michael & Tricia Berns

California Cultural and Historical Endowment

Eva & Doug Le Bon

Massen Greene Foundation

$500,000 - $999,999

Gardner Grout Foundation

The Resort at Pelican Hill

WWW Foundation in Honor of M.H. Whittier

$250,000 - $499,999

Anonymous

BMJ Gregory Charitable Foundation, Bonnie Gregory

City of Newport Beach

Croul Family Foundation

Laura Davick

Hexberg Family Foundation

HKA, Inc. Marketing Communications, Hilary Kaye

Newport Landing Whale Watching

Teddie Ray

Samueli Foundation

University of California, Irvine

North Beach Pledgemakers

(Thank you!)

$100,000 - $249,999

Anonymous

Rick Aversano

Bank of America

Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation

Glenn Bozarth

California State Parks Foundation

The Capital Group/Capital Group Co.

Charitable Foundation

Christine L. Carr LoveLight

The Cheng Family in Memory of Bao-ding Cheng

Collazo Trust

County of Orange, California

Cygnet Foundation

Diana Lu & Gareth Evans

Firebrand Media LLC

Montage Laguna Beach

Mara & Keith Murray

Mike & Linda Mussallem

Tricia Nichols

Orange County Parks Foundation

Pacific Life Foundation

Parks California

Stephanie Quesada & Vince Jackson

Lynn & Dave Rahn

Winifred Rhodes

Roger’s Gardens

Wendy & Fred Salter

Joan Irvine Smith & Athalie R. Clarke Foundation

Southern California Edison

Steen Family Foundation

Laura Tarbox

Susan Tate

Shelley Thunen

Ueberroth Family Foundation

Weingart Foundation

Dr. Tammy Wong, Fostering Executive

Leadership Inc.

Nancy & Arn Youngman

$50,000 - $99,999

Wylie & Bette Aitken

Annenberg Foundation

Lori & Harley Bassman

Al Bennett & Rudi Berkelhamer

COAST Magazine

Coastal Quest, California Ocean Protection Council

Jeffrey & Paula Cole

Wendy & Kevin Cox

DevTo Support Foundation

Lucy Donahue

Bonnie & Pat Fuscoe

Fuscoe Engineering, Inc.

Dan & Rosalie Gee

Karol & Mike Gottfredson

Kerry & Gavin Herbert

Stella Hiatt

The Kennedy Foundation

Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas

Danny & Jeri McKenna

National Environmental Education Foundation

Orange County Community Foundation

Rainbow Sandals

REI

Resources Legacy Fund

Schlinger Family Foundation

Sally & Michael Schreter

Ann & Eric Smyth

Jennifer Steele & Jay Bauer

Jody & Richard Swinney

Tourbillon & OMEGA (US)

James J. Moloney & Erin C. Walsh-Moloney

Western Digital Corporation Fund

Ellen Wragge

$25,000 - $49,999

4LEAF, Inc.

Allergan Foundation

Bill & Angela Ashmore

Dr. Iman Bar

Rick & Diana Boufford

California Small Business COVID-19

Relief Grant Program

Comerica Private Banking

Confidence Foundation

Cox Cares

Crevier Family Foundation Fund

Michelle & Tim Dean

Brian Dobbin, Inc.

First Foundation Bank

Jack & Anne Gallagher

Angela & Ed Grasso

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Lynn Jochim

Dona & Wayne Leicht

MacGillivray Family Foundation

Susie & Bob McIntosh

Mikimoto America

Miller Environmental, Inc.

Neiman Marcus

Sonia & Victor Nichols

Annette & Bucky Oltmans

Jenny & Will O’Neill

Pacific Edge Hotel

Natasha & Todd Palmaer

Christine Pappas & Hugh Bradley

PBS SoCal

Patty & Greg Penske Family

Michael Ray

Deborah & Frank Rugani

Sheets, Paquette & Wu Dental Practice

Arlo Sorensen

Cyd & Steve Swerdlow

Wells Fargo Foundation

Wheeler Foundation

Greg & Sharon Wohl

Michelle & Claude Yacoel

Young’s Market Company

Monette & Steve Zotovich

2023 ANNUAL GIVING

Donors who have given $25,000 or more in their lifetime are listed in Lifetime Giving with their cumulative giving.

$10,000 - $24,999

Fluor Foundation

Deb and Greg Hexberg

Stacey Nicholas

Nazy and Siamak Saidi

James Irvine Swinden

$5,000 - $9,999

Archarios Foundation

Meriam Braselle

CAC Foundation Fund

Nany Clark

Carol & James Collins Foundation

Cox Charities California

Fork, Knife + Spoon Catering

Julie Garn

Steve Grosslight

Dr. Barbara Hamkalo

Amy & Chet Harrison

Lisa Butler Herring

John B. Holtman

Andrew Mason

Miriam & Rick Moore

Nazy & Siamak Saidi

Stacy Schlinger

Emmanuel Sharef

Cherilyn Sheets & Mark Moehlman

Spectra Company

Jerry & Doniel Sutton

Lisa & Scott Taylor

$1,000 - $4,999

Analisa Albert

Leslie Amani

Jack Area

Diane & Jim Bailey

Fetneh Blake

Lori Bloom

Teri Wielenga & Kevin Bossenmeyer

Buchanan Design

Shery Cotton

Sabrina Covington

Celeste & Bob Dennerline

El Dorado Foundation

Barbara Ferguson

Michael Femino

Judy Fettig

Foley Family Wines

Bridget Gallagher

Margaret Grimm

Doug Grossman

Julia Post Guenther & Wayne Guenther

David & Jacinthe Guichet

Aaron & Jaci Gurewitz

Ronnie Hanecak

Jinx & Bill Hansen

Diane Harris

April & Gene Hartline

Sandra & Bernie Howard

Andrew Hykes

Sue & Paul Jarosz

Pat Jennison & Karen Barnes

J. Stanley and Mary W. Johnson

Family Foundation

Katy & Dean Kitchens

Kathy & Rick Kurjan

Marcia & Hank Lawson

LB 47 Enterprises,

Bill Rose & Laura Doyle

Jean Lien

Katie & James Loss

Brett & Alicia Lucas

Barbara & Wendell Maberry

Marilyn MacNiven-Young

Kenneth & Joanne Mayne Foundation

Amy & Jeff Meger

Edward Merrilees

Kayhan & Elizabeth Mirza

Timothy Muller

Gail & Peter Ochs

Brigid O’Connor

Pacific Pearl Catering Co.

Shannon Papazis

Catherine Pazemenas

Victor Perez

Yvette Pergola

Janet & Walkie Ray

Katherine & Stephen Ricossa

Rosanna & Andy Rocker

Rosalba Schimmel

Kathleen & James Selevan

Diane Shammas

Emmanuel Sharef

Mark Skaist

Marcus & Tammy Skenderian

Brian & Maria Smith

Karen Stein-Cueva

Joan Steiner

Joni Ravenna & Mitchell Sussman

Tom & Marilyn Sutton

Chris & Rose-Karen Swanson

Keith Swayne

Lauralee & Bill Symes

Alexandra & Rick Taketa

Charles & Renee Van Vechten

Amy & Joseph Weekley

Charlotte Welsh

Wendy Wifler

Lizanne & Matt Witte

Rick Wlodyga

Ann Worthington

Trisha Yount

$500 - $999

George Alexander Family

Kathleen & Clark Bannert

Nancy & George Barfield

Kim Beckley

Tamar & Beto Bedolfe

Cheryl Beehan

Cathy Benzinger

Tracy Berger

Lauren & Drew Bordages

Carol Breslin

Justin Bringier

Ariel & Michelle Brown

Tim & Michelle Burd

Dina Camiolo

Joanne Capetan

Margaret Chidester

Denise Chilcote

Ron Cloud

Christine Coleman

Bobbi Cox

Susie Crider

Lili Daftarian

Deborah Dagerman

Florenza & Fernando De La Fuente

Gayle DeBrosse

Dena Deck

Kelly & Stefan Dirghalli

Gloria Dominguez

Jane Downs

Christina Earl

Candida Echeverria

Lori Ely

Margaret & Doug Ewing

Ellen Feldberg Gordon Fund

Susan Frank

Erin & Ryan Friemann

Pauline Frye

Maria Furcolow

Mary & Tim Gannon

North Beach Pledgemakers

(Thank you!)

Maile & Gunther Gee

Jim & Kathi Glover

Judi Gorski

Francis & Sharon Govern

George Greene

David Guzman

Mary & Edward Hall

Heidi & Tom Hamm

Karen Haren

Elizabeth Hargreaves

Thomas Harold

Tim Hemig

Jennifer Herman

Dominique Hitchcock

Gerry Hoare

Lynn Hobson

Janet Hogan

Michael Hoopis

Brian Hoppe

Nathalie Hymel

Craig G. Johnson

Pat & Bob Jones

Frances King

Julie Kirchen

Ron Kurtz

Kirsten Larsen & Stephen Pruitt

Sophie LeGuillette & Jeff Johnson

Andrea Leisy

Ryan Lindsey

David Lomet

Barbie Lopez

Tracy Manning

Leah Matheson

Kate & Jared Mathis

Goran Matijasevic

Michael Mays

Elinor Miklos

Rachel & Bryan Milton

Kirsten & Tom Minasian

Pamela Miyada

Richard Ness

Helen Norris

Theresa Occhino

Christine Ohara

Laura & John Olinski

Dennis O’Malley & Karene Gould

Cindy Otto & Kevin Shepherd

Maria Pahl

Susan Patton

Donna Pearson

Ann & Larry Pleiss

Michele & Ernest Ramirez

Terry & Carol Reinhold

Pat Rojek

Chuck Ross

John Ruck

Jerry & Anna Saba

Al Saia

Amanda Salter & Carl Langfeldt

Elizabeth Salter

Carolyn Sams

Juliann Sanchez

Marjorie Savage & Christopher Jackson

Brian Sax

Jim & Sandy Schiermeyer

Katitza Schmidt

Andrew Schneider

Laura & Steve Scully

Claudette Shaw

Drs. Jean & Evan Siegel

Paige & Caleb Silsby

Pamela Sipchen

Stephany & Morris Skenderian

Brian & Maria Smith

Leah Smith

Elizabeth Spanier & Michael Beckage

Corinne Spurrier

Diane Stovall

Pat & Wil Swan

Wendy Topfer

Carol Trapini

Louhon Tucker

Norio Uyematsu

Sheryl & Chris Van Ruiten

Linda Varner

Caroline Vaughn

Michelle & Patrick Voetberg

William Woolley

Janet Yee & Eric Vartio

LEGACY DONORS

Thank you to our supporters who have included Crystal Cove Conservancy in their estate plans.

Judy & Pierre d’Albert

Wendy & Kevin Cox

Laura Davick

Karen Eglin Living Trust

Carol Fallon

Doug Grossman

Nicole Palmer

Pledges

Special events, net of direct costs of $182,057

and $204,311

Interpretive store revenue, net of cost of goods

and $259,183

Consolidated Statement of Activities

Year Ended June 30, 2023 (With Comparative Totals for 2022)

Concessionaire activities

Education & Interpretive activities

Restoration activities

Cottage operations

Total Program Expenses

Administrative

expenses

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

June 30, 2023 (With Comparative Totals for 2022)

Board-designated

Undesignated

With

2023 SOIRÉE ONE FOR THE BOOKS!

The 21st annual Soirée was one for the record books! Over 260 guests gathered on the blufftop at Crystal Cove State Park’s Pelican Point, and one paddle raise at a time, supporters gave a record $710,000 to support The Conservancy’s STEM education programs. With the support of title sponsor Bank of America, attendees enjoyed a sunset cocktail reception followed by dinner al fresco, and dancing under the stars.

CONCESSION REVENUE: ONE SHAKE AT A TIME

Because of The Conservancy’s unique role as both the nonprofit partner and concessionaire for the park, revenue earned at Crystal Cove State Park—from cottage rentals to the Shake Shack and Beachcomber—doesn’t leave the park as corporate profits and dividends, but stays here to support Park operations and programs. The unique partnership between Crystal Cove Conservancy, California State Parks, and Crystal Cove Management Company, a wholly-owned for-profit subsidiary of The Conservancy, ensures the natural resources of Crystal Cove State Park will be preserved for generations to come.