2026 40 Under 40 Honoree: James Snow (35)
“There is something deeply meaningful to me about helping create and care for places that belong to everyone.”
PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA
James Snow
Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
This is my first time on Earth, too.” It’s something James Snow tells his team, usually when he doesn’t have an immediate answer.
For Snow, leadership isn’t about pretending otherwise. As vice president and chief administrative officer of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, he oversees everything from finance and fundraising to communications and HR while helping move major park projects from idea to reality. His nearly 15-year career has also included neighborhood-based work at Grounded Strategies and board service with Landforce and community organizations.
A leukemia diagnosis added another dimension to how he thinks about that work. During treatment, Snow became newly aware of grades, distances and places to rest, an experience that informs his commitment to making Pittsburgh’s green spaces genuinely accessible.
“I definitely do not need to be the person out front to feel like I have contributed,” he says. “If the work is visible and the people behind it are not, I think that often means we did our jobs well.”
