Gretchen Dykstra

Gretchen Dykstra is the previous President and CEO of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. The former Commissioner of New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs, Dykstra left that post in April 2005 to head up the foundation, which is entrusted with raising funds for the construction of a memorial and museum designed to pay tribute to the victims of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.

In May of the following year Dykstra resigned the post because the excessive political input-and resulting gridlock-over the design and funding scheme of the memorial had made it difficult to move forward, and, according to her, the growing number of "authorities has made it difficult for anyone to move expeditiously." Dykstra then spent the summer in Masaka, Uganda, volunteering at Aidchild.

Trained as a teacher, Dykstra was also the founding president of the Times Square Business Improvement District, which was integral to the economic and cultural renaissance that the epicenter of Manhattan enjoyed during the 1990s.

External links

* [http://www.projectrebirth.org/rebuild/whosWho/dykstra.html Project Rebirth: Who's Who; Gretchen Dykstra]
* [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/421325p-355715c.html Memorial money big bails: Too many 9/11 players, sez fund-raiser Dykstra]
* [http://www.nyc.gov/html/dca/html/news/payouts02.shtml Commissioner Dykstra Hands Out Checks to 19 Victims; Boost Trust Fund Pay Out Cap to $15,000]