courtney van naarden

VP OF MARKETING + MAKE BELIEVE

Hi! I'm the other Courtney and I'm so happy to join the Greenwich Play team. I started my career at PR and marketing agencies in New York, where I focused on initiatives for consumer brands such as Netflix, Chobani, and Procter & Gamble.

Like so many women, I took a professional pause to start a family, and never really felt like going back to the “corporate world” made sense for the life I now had. It was also during this time that I developed new passions for things like early childhood (hello two little boys) and interior design (hello new empty house). The fun and functional space I created for my own children had such a positive impact on them, it inspired me to want to bring that joy and purpose to other families’ homes.

I am so excited to join Greenwich Play, where our sole focus is delivering highly individualized, purposeful family spaces. Rest assured, I will be taking my job as VP of Marketing + Make Believe seriously, but when I’m not, you can find me riding my bike to the beach or taking a special weekend morning trip for donuts (and the occasional weekday trip may occur, too).

HEAD OF FUN, FUNCTION + MEDIA

Hi, I’m Pati…or did you think I was going to say Courtney? am a recent graduate from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, where I majored in Business Management and minored in French and Marketing. I have a strong creative instinct and entrepreneurial spirit, and am deeply thrilled to be parlaying my academic and professional experience into an opportunity with Greenwich Play!

Having moved around pretty much all throughout my life (Mexico, Spain, and the U.S.), I’ve never really had a place I felt was entirely mine and uniquely catered to my own style and needs. Because of this, I’ve realized how important it is to create a safe space, especially during the early stages of childhood, where one can feel safe to both learn and play.

I am so excited to be turning a new leaf and cannot wait to further learn and grow alongside such an amazing team!

Play is so important that the United Nations declared it a basic human right. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted in 1989, states that “Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.”