Alicia Wittink is vice president of the left-of-center Park Foundation and the daughter of Adelaide Park Gomer, heiress to the Duncan Hines fortune and president of the Park Foundation. ¹ In additional to her activism with the foundation, Wittink has sat on the board of directors for many prominent left-of-center environmentalist groups. Wittink is also a regular donor to left-progressive political causes and Democratic candidates.

Background

Wittink is the daughter of Adelaide Park Gomer, president of the Park Foundation, a funder of environmentalist and anti-natural-gas causes and groups, and heiress to the Duncan Hines and Park Communications media fortunes. ² Wittink is a 1997 graduate of Cornell University, to which her family and the Park Foundation have made substantial gifts. ³ Wittink has been vice president of the Park Foundation since 1998. ⁴

In 2000, Wittink was named to the board of directors for Center for a New American Dream, a left-of-center group that promoted environmentalist and liberal social policies. ⁵ Winnick was appointed to the board of directors of Friends of the Earth in 2002. ⁶ In addition to advocating for left-wing environmental policies, Friends of the Earth pushes economic redistribution, restricting campaign speech, and opposition to free trade. ⁷

From 2004 through 2009, Wittink was on the board of directors for Mother Jones – Foundation for National Progress. ⁸ From 2005 through 2012, Wittink was co-founder of the nonprofit DC EcoWomen, a group of environmentalist-activist women in Washington, D.C., that hosted speakers, hikes, and networking events. ⁹ For four years beginning in 2007, Wittink sat on the board of directors of Environmental Working Group. ¹⁰

Park Foundation

Since graduating college, Wittink has been vice president of the board of trustees at the left-of-center Park Foundation, based in Ithaca, New York. ¹¹ As of 2020, the Park Foundation had over $400 million in assets ¹² that it uses to fund left-of-center environmentalist organizations. ¹³

Among its activities, the Park Foundation funds efforts to end the extraction of natural gas and supports media interests sympathetic to this issue. ¹⁴ As vice president, her mother and president touted that the Park Foundation “helped fuel an army” of environmental activists for bans on natural gas drilling. ¹⁵ The Park Foundation states it will continue to promote the decline of fossil fuel production, oppose all pipelines and oil and gas infrastructure, and stop all new drilling. ¹⁶

Other Activities

Wittink is a regular donor to left-of-center and left-progressive organizations, such as Moveon.org, Let America Vote, Progressive Turnout Project, End Citizens United, ActBlue, DNC Services Corp., Stop Republicans PAC, Occupy Democrats Election Fund, and America Coming Together. ¹⁷ Wittink has also donated to left-of-center politicians including Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden; U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA); former New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon (D); and New York State Senate candidate Leslie Danks Burke (D). ¹⁸

In 2020, Wittink and her family attempted to travel to seven continents and 20 countries in 6 months until the trip was cut short due to COVID-19. ¹⁹ Wittink justified the “pollution” from her travels by donating to the Finger Lakes Climate Fund to offset her carbon footprint. ²⁰

1. Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
2. Saxon, Wolfgang. “R.H. Park, 83, Media Executive and Promoter of Duncan Hines.” New York Times. October 27, 1993. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/27/obituaries/rh-park-83-media-executive-and-promoter-of-duncan-hines.html; North Carolina State website. “Park Scholarships.” www.park.ncsu.edu. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://park.ncsu.edu/2016/06/24/dorothy-dent-park/.
3. Cornell S.C. Johnson College of Business website. “Roy H. Park and the Triad Foundation.” www.johnson.cornell.edu. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/programs/full-time-mba/two-year-mba/curriculum/leadership/leadership-opportunities/park-leadership-fellows-program/roy-h-park-and-the-triad-foundation/.
4. Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
5. Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
6. Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
7. Friends of the Earth profile. www.influencewatch.org. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/friends-of-the-earth/.
8. Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
9. DC EcoWomen website. www.dc.ecowomen.org. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://dc.ecowomen.org/about-us/; Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
10. Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
11. Alicia Wittink LinkedIn profile. www.linkedin.com. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-wittink-bb31824/.
12. Park Foundation, Form 990, 2020, Part II.
13. Park Foundation website. www.parkfoundation.org. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://parkfoundation.org/about-us/.
14. Park Foundation website. www.parkfoundation.org. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://parkfoundation.org/grants-awarded/.
15. Markay, Lachlan. “Environmentalist Foundations Fund Anti-Fossil Fuel Echo Chamber.” Washington Free Beacon. April 3, 2014. Accessed February 5, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/issues/environmentalist-foundations-fund-anti-fossil-fuel-echo-chamber/.
16. Park Foundation website. www.parkfoundation.org. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://parkfoundation.org/grants-awarded/.
17. Center for Responsive Politics. “Donor Lookup: Alicia Wittink.” www.opensecrets.org.  Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=Alicia+wittink.
18. Center for Responsive Politics. “Donor Lookup: Alicia Wittink.” www.opensecrets.org.  Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=Alicia+wittink.
19. Fully Live Life website. www.fullylive.life. Accessed February 5, 2022. https://www.fullylive.life/new-page.
20. Fully Live Life website. www.fullylive.life. Accessed February 5, 2022. https://www.fullylive.life/new-page.