By Dan Murphy
Kelsey Pramik, the Esplanade Association’s newly named marketing and events manager.
Kelsey Pramik comes to her new role as the marketing and events manager of The Esplanade Association with a heartfelt appreciation for the city’s parklands that draws on her previous experience with the Charles River Conservancy.
As a past participant in the Esplanade 5K and Sunset Yoga on the Esplanade, Pramik already has firsthand experience with The Esplanade Association’s programming. In fact, Pramik now finds herself planning the Esplanade 5k that she previously ran.
“I’m really excited to be behind the scenes and get families out exercising at sunset,” she said.
Besides planning and promoting the Esplanade Association’s signature annual events, including the 5k, the “Summer Dock Party,” the ‘Moondance Gala” and the “Canine Promenade,” Pramik now intends to increase the organization’s social media presence, as well as to launch a monthly e-newsletter.
Tani Marinovich, the Esplanade Association’s executive director, warmly welcomes Pramik to her new position.
“We are thrilled to have Kelsey Pramik join the team,” Marinovich wrote. “She brings a breadth of experience in non-profit marketing, event planning and knowledge of the Charles River to the role.”
Raised in Georgia, Pramik said she has been gradually working her way up the East Coast after earning a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Virginia in 2011. She went on to complete a master’s program in public policy, science, technology and environmental policy from the American University School of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. During this time, Pramik interned for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of Environmental Services for the City of Arlington, Va., and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Upon earning her Master’s, Pramik joined the staff of the Federal City Council – a D.C., membership-based nonprofit that, under the leadership of former-Mayor Anthony Williams, sought to enlist business and professional leaders in the community to help solve major problems in the metropolitan area. She played a supporting role in the creation of a friends’ group for the Anacostia River parklands and in a complete overhaul of the organization’s brand and identity during her tenure.
In 2015, Pramik relocated to Boston and, soon afterwards, assumed the position of special assistant to President Renata von Tscharner for the Charles River Conservancy – a Cambridge nonprofit focusing on the Charles River parklands between the Boston Harbor Dam and Watertown Dam. With a job description that promised a “bird’s eye view of nonprofit management,” her work duties came to include assisting von Tscharner in all aspects of the president’s work, including community engagement, communications and project support.
In October, Pramik was promoted to project manager for the “Swim Park Project,” whose goal is to build a safe, accessible and permanent swimming facility in the Charles River at Cambridge’s North Point Park. She also advocated at this time for the construction of an underpass as part of the rehabilitation of the Anderson Memorial Bridge in Boston.
Pramik’s transition from the Charles River Conservancy to the Esplanade Association at the beginning of March has been relatively seamless, she said, given the similar missions of both organizations.
“I’m very familiar with the river and its history from working on advocacy issues related to the Charles River,” Pramik said. “And I feel very passionate about open spaces in Boston.”