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NAOP Staff
Iris Gestram, Executive
Director
Prior to joining NAOP in 2007, Iris headed the Education and Visitor Services Department at historic Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, where she oversaw guest services, education, public programs and marketing of the 1,000-acre public garden. Iris was Director of Education and Visitor Services at the Olmsted-designed Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL, adjacent to Mountain Lake Community with its numerous residential landscapes designed by the Olmsted firm.
Iris brings extensive experience in non-profit management, strategic planning and program development. She holds a M.S. in Public Horticulture Administration from the Longwood Graduate Program, University of Delaware, where she developed a preservation proposal for the historic landscape of Gibraltar in Wilmington, Delaware, designed by pioneer woman landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin. She holds a M.S. in Plant Science from Humboldt University Berlin, Germany.
Iris is active in the historic landscape preservation and public horticulture fields. She recently facilitated and wrote a strategic plan for the Smithsonian Horticulture Services Division, initiating, among other things, a name change to Smithsonian Gardens, to better reflect the stature and operations of Smithsonian Gardens as a public garden, educational institution, and horticultural display garden. Iris served on the Longwood Graduate Program Executive Committee (2003-2007), and on the Gibraltar Landscape Advisory Committee for Preservation Delaware, Inc. (2001-2006).
Mela Gibson, Office Manager
Mela has extensive experience in for-profit and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining NAOP in 2010, Mela was Special Projects Coordinator and Office Manager at the Kuwait-America Foundation/National Campaign to Stop Violence, in Washington, DC. She was a Legal Secretary and Accounting Manager with Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LLP and with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, two Washington DC law firms.
Prior to joining NAOP in 2007, Iris headed the Education and Visitor Services Department at historic Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, where she oversaw guest services, education, public programs and marketing of the 1,000-acre public garden. Iris was Director of Education and Visitor Services at the Olmsted-designed Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL, adjacent to Mountain Lake Community with its numerous residential landscapes designed by the Olmsted firm.
Iris brings extensive experience in non-profit management, strategic planning and program development. She holds a M.S. in Public Horticulture Administration from the Longwood Graduate Program, University of Delaware, where she developed a preservation proposal for the historic landscape of Gibraltar in Wilmington, Delaware, designed by pioneer woman landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin. She holds a M.S. in Plant Science from Humboldt University Berlin, Germany.
Iris is active in the historic landscape preservation and public horticulture fields. She recently facilitated and wrote a strategic plan for the Smithsonian Horticulture Services Division, initiating, among other things, a name change to Smithsonian Gardens, to better reflect the stature and operations of Smithsonian Gardens as a public garden, educational institution, and horticultural display garden. Iris served on the Longwood Graduate Program Executive Committee (2003-2007), and on the Gibraltar Landscape Advisory Committee for Preservation Delaware, Inc. (2001-2006).
Mela Gibson, Office Manager
Mela has extensive experience in for-profit and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining NAOP in 2010, Mela was Special Projects Coordinator and Office Manager at the Kuwait-America Foundation/National Campaign to Stop Violence, in Washington, DC. She was a Legal Secretary and Accounting Manager with Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LLP and with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, two Washington DC law firms.