Who’s Watching the Watchers? Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation (TMPF) Board Must Share Blame for Nonprofit’s Collapse
Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation Board - they need to be held as accountable as the Executive Director. Saying “we’re sorry” doesn’t cut it.
The Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation (TMPF), once a staple of local conservation and community programming in Northern Nevada, has announced it is shutting down operations effective immediately. Staff have been laid off, programs are ending one by one, and the community is being left without services that once thrived under the organization’s stewardship.
The cause? What’s being described as significant financial mismanagement by former Executive Director Heidi Anderson - who is being investigated.
But while Anderson may have steered the ship into the rocks, she wasn’t the only one at the helm.
As the fallout grows, the TMPF board has expressed "sorrow and concern" over the closure. But the real question is where were they as this crisis unfolded? A board of directors is not a ceremonial body. It is legally and ethically responsible for overseeing the finances, operations, and leadership of a nonprofit. If Anderson was mismanaging funds, it was the board’s job to catch it—and stop it.
This didn’t happen overnight. It takes months—sometimes years—of oversight failure for an organization to unravel to this extent. So how could the board have missed it all?
What makes this implosion even more troubling is the public money involved.
In February 2024, the Reno City Council awarded $10,000 to TMPF for the Virginia Range Trail Project and another $5,000 for improvements to the Biggest Little Dog Park.
Washoe County also directed funds: $5,800 for youth programs and event sponsorships over two years, plus $10,000 for the Confluence Art Project, routed through TMPF.
That’s more than $30,000 in public funds allocated to an organization now accused of financial mismanagement—and not a word (yet) on whether that money was spent as promised.
This was a nonprofit entrusted not just with trails and parks—but with community trust. And now, that trust has been broken.
Too often, when nonprofits implode, the executive director takes the fall while the board quietly slips away, issuing sympathetic press releases and hoping no one looks too closely at their role.
Not this time.
The TMPF board cannot be allowed to distance itself from this failure. Their lack of oversight enabled the financial mismanagement to go unchecked. Their silence and inaction helped pave the way for this collapse.
If the public is going to have confidence in nonprofits—especially those receiving taxpayer money—boards must be held accountable when they fail to do their jobs.
At minimum, a full, independent investigation into TMPF's finances should include:
A review of all board meeting minutes and financial reports from the past three years
An audit of how public discretionary funds were spent
Board member statements explaining what they knew and when
This isn't just about one executive director's failure. It’s about systemic breakdowns in governance, transparency, and accountability. And the TMPF board should not be allowed to walk away without answering for them. They must be held accountable.