Betsy Shure Gross’s love of nature and open spaces led her to restore a local treasure: the last surviving linear park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Shure Gross began her career in nature conservancy by organizing her neighborhood to restore Olmsted Park in Brookline, Massachusetts, which reminded her of the park she had loved as a child in New Haven, Connecticut, also designed by Olmsted. She led the restoration of Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, a chain of parks and waterways from Boston Common to Franklin Park, organizing residents and city government to take responsibility for restoring it. She helped found the National Association for Olmsted Parks, coordinating a national conference that brought together environmental activists and historic preservation professionals. Their joint efforts resulted in a massive restoration program in Massachusetts. Shure Gross also helped pass the Community Preservation Act of 2000, which helps communities protect open space, historic sites, and affordable housing.

Betsy Shure Gross’s was honored at the 2001 Women Who Dared event in Boston.