Potrero Group Recruits President for the Resources Legacy Fund
November 20, 2025 – San Francisco-based leadership consulting and search firm Potrero Group has recruited Phil Ginsburg as the next president of Resources Legacy Fund (RLF). Mr. Ginsburg will lead RLF and its partner organizations, Fund for a Better Future and Shared Ascent Fund. The search was co-led by Cleveland Justis, founder and CEO, and Daniel Student, managing director at Potrero Group.
Potrero Group’s search produced over 650 applicants for the president role. The RLF board selected Mr. Ginsburg due to his deep passion for social impact, record of highly effective executive leadership, and reputation for inspiring teams and stewarding donors while navigating complex political environments.
“Resources Legacy Fund is a groundbreaking and innovative force in environmental philanthropy,” said Mr. Justis. “Phil’s long history of uniting diverse stakeholders and applying creative, entrepreneurial problem-solving skills aligns perfectly with RLF’s collaborative approach,” says Justis. “We are confident he will be an excellent steward of RLF’s mission and well-positioned to build on its success.”
Mr. Ginsburg joins RLF after a 25-year career with the city and county of San Francisco, where he served under six mayors and most recently led the city’s Recreation and Parks Department. During his tenure, he transformed a struggling department into one of the nation’s most admired urban park systems, making San Francisco more equitable, vibrant, sustainable, and beloved. In this role, Mr. Ginsberg managed a budget of over $250 million annually and a staff of more than 1,000 full-time employees, raising over $250 million in private philanthropic funding for San Francisco’s parks and securing an additional $385 million in voter-approved bond initiatives.
Resources Legacy Fund is a non-profit organization that partners with philanthropies, public agencies, and community leaders to advance conservation, climate resilience, and equitable environmental outcomes across the United States. Based in Sacramento, CA, RLF designs and manages philanthropic programs that protect land and water resources, strengthen climate policy, expand access to the outdoors, and support tribes and underserved communities in shaping natural-resource decisions.
Serving Non-Profits
Potrero Group is a national, full-service consulting firm helping non-profits and foundations build stronger, more effective leadership. They specialize in strategic planning, executive search, board development and facilitation—bringing a rigorous, research-driven approach to identifying the next generation of leaders and aligning senior teams around a clear, impactful vision.
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An accomplished organizational leader in entrepreneurship and the environment for the past 25 years, Mr. Justis has worked and consulted widely with startups, businesses, non-profits, foundations, and governmental organizations, including the National Park Service, Resources Legacy Fund, and Grand Canyon Conservancy. He currently teaches Social Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. His expertise spans strategic planning, business planning, board development, public/private partnerships, entrepreneurship, network analysis, and innovation. Mr. Justis was formerly the executive director of the UC Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and co-founded and served as director of the Institute at Golden Gate.
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Mr. Student leads strategy and board engagements. His Potrero Group clients have included Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy, Minnesota Public Radio, NatureBridge, Outdoor Afro, and The Trail Conservancy, for which he has led strategic planning, new program development, board recruitment and retention and executive search. Notably, he led Potrero Group’s engagement through Resources Legacy Fund to provide program management to the development of California Natural Resource Agency’s 30×30 strategy to conserve thirty percent of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. Mr. Student has been a cultural, environmental, and social sector leader for over 15 years and brings a unique cross-section of creative and business strategy to his work. He has built expertise on leading through partnership inside and across organizations and sectors.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
