25 years of coastal management experience
From 2010 until 2022, Brad McCrea served as the Regulatory Director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (commonly known as BCDC), a California state agency created by the Legislature to protect the San Francisco Bay and plan for its future use. During his 12-year tenure in this executive-level position, Brad directed BCDC's multi-faceted regulatory program and was the principal adviser to two BCDC Executive Directors on related issues.
As a member of BCDC's six-person senior staff, Brad's primary responsibility was overseeing BCDC's five regulatory programs that processed hundreds of projects every year, including design review and permitting of all major development projects, permitting of all wetland restoration projects, engineering review of coastal structures, management of dredged sediment, and enforcement along hundreds of miles of Bay shoreline.
Prior to serving as BCDC's Regulatory Director, Brad worked for 12 years as BCDC's senior design analyst, personally evaluating more than a thousand waterfront development proposals and advising project teams on how to craft projects consistent with government policies.
During Brad's time as a senior regulatory official at BCDC, the Commission successfully approved thousands of large and small development projects around the Bay worth tens of billions of dollars.
Prior to his work at BCDC, Brad worked for 8 years in the private sector for planning and landscape architecture firms in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In 2009, Brad helped create and then managed the Rising Tides International Design Competition, an event that prompted teams from 18 nations to submit 130 design ideas that responded to sea level rise in the Bay Area. Between 2009 and 2013, Brad spoke publicly around the nation, including to White House staff, about the need for climate change adaptation.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Brad holds two MA degrees from University of California at Berkeley and a BA degree from California State University.
