As Save the Redwoods League’s senior manager of community engagement, Parra ensures that people of all backgrounds can not only benefit from the outdoors but also feel welcome in the natural spaces many take for granted. Immediately after joining Save the Redwoods League, Parra began cultivating relationships with community groups and tribes to understand their interest in the redwoods. Since then, she has led Save the Redwoods’ strategic outreach to forge relationships and programmatic partnerships with community-based organizations, public lands managers, and leaders within these diverse networks to connect them to coast redwood and giant sequoia forests.
“I’ve learned that good things always happen when the community expands,” says Parra. “When we grow the community around redwoods, it will benefit not only those who have been historically excluded, but also the parks and trees themselves.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Parra launched Save the Redwoods’ podcast “I’ll Go If You Go,” which features diverse conservation and outdoor recreation leaders. The series strives to build community through conservation while promoting redwood access for all. Parra continues to serve as executive producer. She also helps communities connect with local redwood parks through the Redwood Rides access program and in collaborative enrichment projects.
Parra earned a B.S. in Zoology from North Carolina State University and a M.S. in Biology from San Francisco State University. She also received the 2025 Community Partnership Award for Campus Collaboration from San Francisco State University and the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the university and the broader community.
“When you’re trying to build relationships with new audiences, it’s important to get out of your comfort zone and go where they are. Sticking to the old ways of doing things is how conservation organizations lost their trust with these communities in the first place.”
