Regional Staff
Joy M. Oakes, Senior Mid-Atlantic Regional Director
Since 2001, Joy has overseen NPCA’s activities in the region’s five states and the District of Columbia, since 2005 including field offices in three states. Joy was a leader in the Healthy Air Campaign in Maryland, which in 2006 resulted in the nation’s strongest state legislation to reduce pollution including carbon dioxide from power plants. She helped establish NPCA's healthy air campaign, and has led successful campaigns to add historically important lands to parks in the region. Prior to joining NPCA, Joy worked for the Sierra Club, and in the 1990s led a campaign to stop a proposed new town on the Potomac River downstream of Washington, D.C. The campaign resulted in enactment of Maryland’s landmark Smart Growth program, and creation of the 2,200-acre Chapman Forest State Park and related natural area. In 1997 Joy was a founder of the Coalition for Smarter Growth in Washington, D.C. A native Virginian with deep roots in rural culture, Joy graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a B.A. degree in religion.
Christina Needham, Senior Mid-Atlantic Program Coordinator
Christina joined NPCA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Office in spring 2008 as Senior Program Coordinator. She handles the team’s daily operations as well as special projects. Christina has lived in Kentucky, Minnesota, and both southern and northern Virginia. An ardent traveler, Christina has traveled and studied abroad, and hopes to visit as many of our national parks as possible. Already well on her way, she and her husband were married in a national park! Christina especially enjoys visiting parks in her own backyard, like Manassas National Battlefield, the National Mall, and Shenandoah National Park. Christina graduated from George Mason University with a B.A. in International Politics, minoring in French.
Cinda M. Waldbuesser, Senior Pennsylvania Program Manager
Cinda opened NPCA’s Pennsylvania Field Office in Philadelphia in January 2006. A Philadelphia native, Cinda’s love of national parks and history stems from spending many hours as a child in the historical national parks throughout the Commonwealth. Cinda came to NPCA with a strong background in coalition building and public policy. Prior to joining NPCA, Cinda worked for the office of United States Senator Evan Bayh and for Blakey & Agnew, a small public affairs firm in Washington DC. During her time with Blakey & Agnew, Cinda helped build and manage a successful coalition centered around influencing the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. Since opening the Pennsylvania Field Office, Cinda has led all of NPCA’s campaigns in the state of Pennsylvania. Cinda graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in American studies.
Catharine Gilliam, Senior Virginia Program Manager
In late 2005, NPCA created a field office in Virginia. Catharine has led NPCA’s work in Virginia--focusing on threats facing the many exceptional national parks throughout the state. The Virginia Field Office also contributes to our clean air campaign, Clean Air for People, Parks & the Bay, and organizes the Virginians for Health Air network. Catharine holds degrees from the University of Virginia School of Architecture and Washington & Lee School of Law. Prior to joining NPCA she worked at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Fredericksburg Foundation and the Carol/Trevelyan Strategy Group.
Erin St. John, Field Manager
Erin joined NPCA's Mid-Atlantic Field Office in 2005. She established the West Virginia Field Office in May 2007 in order to build a coordinated and effective local voice for protection of national parks in West Virginia. Since 2007, Erin has coordinated a diverse coalition to halt inappropriate commercial development adjacent to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and to advance protection of historically significant lands. Since 2005 Erin has been active at the New River Gorge National River, building support for the park among gateway communities and local leaders. In addition to her work in West Virginia, she stewards the Virginians for Healthy Air, a business network that supports NPCA’s advocacy for clean air for Shenandoah National Park and throughout Virginia. Prior to joining NPCA, Erin assisted with land stewardship at a land trust in Massachusetts. Erin graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in resource ecology and management.
