Rachel Thieme

Rachel Thieme has served as the Executive Director of the Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District in Sunnyside, Queens since 2012. In this role, she works with business and property owners to promote, beautify and enhance the Sunnyside commercial district.

Under her leadership, the organization has collaborated with a variety of community partners to revitalize two areas under the elevated 7 train and transform them into welcoming public plazas.

Ms. Thieme has brought new initiatives to the district, such as Sunnyside Restaurant Week and a revitalized Taste of Sunnyside event, both of which aim to promote Sunnyside as a dining destination. She is passionate about working on the neighborhood level to promote economic development, and enjoys collaborating with a wide variety of stakeholders to further this goal.

Ms. Thieme has worked in the for-profit, non-profit and public sectors on a variety of mission-driven initiatives aimed to improve local communities. Prior to her current position at Sunnyside Shines, she helped to implement and manage technology projects with public transit agencies throughout North America, organized capacity-building efforts for economic development organizations in Brooklyn and studied sustainable community development throughout New York City. She began her career on the West Coast working to improve food access for low income communities, initially supervising a meal program for homeless teens in Seattle, and then managing eff orts to expand San Francisco’s food pantry network with the San Francisco Food
Bank.

In 2014, Ms. Thieme was honored by the Queens Courier with a “Rising Star” award and by Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer during Women’s History Month.

Ms, Thieme holds a graduate degree with distinction in City and Regional Planning from the Pratt Institute and an undergraduate degree from Mills College in Oakland, California. In 2013, she completed the Neighborhood Leadership Program with the Coro New York Leadership Center, a professional development program for commercial revitalization managers. She is originally from Seattle, Washington.