Seattle’s major public gardens are getting a single captain at the helm, and her name is Christina Owen. Seattle Botanic Gardens has named Owen its first CEO as the newly combined organization shifts from a long-running partnership model to one nonprofit. Owen, who stepped in as director of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens in 2021, will now steer the consolidation of Arboretum Foundation and UWBG operations, formalizing management of some of the city’s largest public-garden assets under one leadership team.
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the board this week named Owen the inaugural CEO of Seattle Botanic Gardens after wrapping up its hiring process. The outlet reports that her selection caps a national search that kicked off when the two organizations began moving to combine operations earlier this year.
What the new organization will manage
The merger, formalized in an Operations and Management Agreement approved in early January, pulls stewardship of the Washington Park Arboretum, the Seattle Japanese Garden and the Center for Urban Horticulture into the single nonprofit Seattle Botanic Gardens. The framework, signed off on by the Arboretum Foundation board and the University of Washington Board of Regents, is designed to unify fundraising, programming and conservation work across all three sites, as outlined by the Arboretum Foundation.
Owen's background and priorities
Owen holds a Ph.D. and, since 2021, has overseen programs, collections and partnerships at UW Botanic Gardens in her role as director. Before joining UW, she worked on agricultural and development programs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She has publicly emphasized broadening access, supporting research and building inclusive programming in public gardens, according to the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.
What’s next
Board leaders say putting everything under one CEO should streamline fundraising, volunteer coordination and day to day operations, with an eye toward improving visitor services and conservation programming across Seattle’s public gardens. In its January announcement, the Arboretum Foundation said permanent UWBG employees would be offered roles at the new nonprofit, and the Puget Sound Business Journal reports that the board has now officially filled the top job.
