Allison Burson

Based in Maine, Allison Burson brings more than 15 years experience making public spaces more accessible, equitable and enjoyable for people to the East Coast Greenway Alliance’s newly created role of national greenway director. 

In this position, Allison oversees the Alliance’s trail development projects and programs and leads the Greenway’s eight-person field staff team.

Prior to joining the Greenway team, Allison worked in the nonprofit, foundation, private, higher education and public sectors in Seattle, Boston and the United Kingdom.

Most recently, Allison worked at The Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation as its program manager for A Greener Greater Boston. In this role, her love of trails and open space led her to manage a partnership program between the Barr and Solomon Foundations that provides technical assistance, seed funding and advocacy to support and accelerate the creation of parks and greenways in Massachusetts’ cities. She helped partners working on parks and trails to envision, test and plan projects. Allison also supported grassroots community engagement and helped partners secure large-scale federal, state and local funding for multi-million dollar infrastructure investments

Previously Allison worked at an urban advocacy nonprofit in Seattle focused on transit-oriented development, transportation and open-space policies. In Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's office, she continued her work on policies and programs to make Seattle a more accessible, liveable city for all. At the University of York in the United Kingdom, she built international research and learning partnerships. Allison also has experience consulting with organizations on leadership transitions, helping them with change management and diversifying their leadership teams.

As a volunteer, Allison served as board chair for MassBike where she advocated for policies that encourage community wellness, equity and inclusion, enable sustainable growth, drive economic vitality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She also previously served on her town’s conservation commission which included filling the role of tree warden aka the Lorax. Allison is a graduate of Wesleyan University with bachelor’s degrees in American studies and environmental studies. A bike commuter and recreational cyclist, she also enjoys running, hiking, swimming, baking, kayaking and cooking.