Katherine Conkling Thompson

Katherine Conkling Thompson is a working artist who has dedicated her life to public service, art, and advocacy. She has been an innovative and empathetic force behind positive community change in North Brooklyn for more than 25 years.

Ms. Thompson’s commitment to a lifetime of public service began in the late 1980s when she worked with Creative Arts Workshops — an organization that provides an artistic refuge for youth experiencing homelessness. In 1996, she and her husband, Dewey, moved to Greenpoint, where they have resided since. Her background in the arts, commitment to sustainability, and dedication to social justice quickly became neighborhood assets.

In 1999, she and her husband co-founded a family soccer program, the AYSO Greenpoint/Williamsburg Youth Soccer League, for which she served as Assistant Commissioner for 12 years. The League is still active today and provides an inclusive athletic outlet for more than a thousand young people.

In her work with the soccer league, Ms. Thompson became acutely aware of the lack of safe, public open space in the neighborhood, leading her to become the co-leader of Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park in 2014. Throughout her tenure, Ms. Thompson, along with Steve Chesler and a small cohort of engaged Brooklyn residents, spearheaded the creation of a new public park that will soon include 27 acres.

In recent years, Ms. Thompson has become increasingly active in the fight against climate change, and particularly against the expansion of fracked gas infrastructure. She has a deep understanding of the intersection between racial and environmental justice, and in collaboration with several community organizations, she advocates for sustainable, ethical solutions to neighborhood growth. Ms. Thompson’s dedication to this cause has been demonstrated in her work as an intervening party to Public Service Commission proceedings surrounding potential rate hikes on gas prices that would affect the entire Borough and enable construction of new pipelines.

A theme that connects Ms. Thompson’s varied efforts is her long-term vision and dedication to seeing an issue through to the end. She is widely respected for taking the time to understand all sides of an issue until she is an expert — and for thoroughly considering the best interests of everyone involved, with warmth and approachability. Greenpoint and Williamsburg are better for Ms. Thompson’s work and will continue to benefit from her unrelenting energy and care.

Ms. Thompson and her husband, Dewey, live in Greenpoint. They have three adult children who also reside in North Brooklyn.