Former fundraiser for N . Y . public schools transforms Governors Island with creative cultural ideas Career choices of Leslie Koch , president of the Trust for Governors Island , have been far from typical . The 49 - year - old was once an executive at Microsoft . She later became a successful fundraiser for public schools in New York City . Then , she took a challenging job in 2006 to transform an almost - deserted military base on an island in New York Harbor , to a lively place for New Yorkers to spend their summer weekends . Before Koch joined Governors Island in 2006 to redevelop the island , it attracted only 8 , 000 visitors in the summer season from the end of May to the end of September . During the same season last year , the number reached 443 , 000 , she said , adding that half a million was the goal for this year ’ s season . Located between lower Manhattan and Brooklyn , Governors Island can be reached on a ferry either from lower Manhattan or Brooklyn . The secret to motivating people to come to the island and boosting the number of visitors was in “ thinking big and acting small , ” Koch said , who graduated summa cum laude in history from Yale University and received a master ’ s degree in management also from Yale . “ Five years ago when we started ( redeveloping the island ) , we had all these people coming with new big ideas . But every day , you have to think small and get done with things you are going to do , ” Koch said in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul . “ Whatever job you have , making sure that you strike the right balance between thinking big and acting small is the biggest challenge . If you just think small , answer your e - mails , you don ’ t change things . ” A lot of changes have taken place since Koch joined aboard . The island has many cultural programs including sculpture exhibition and miniature golf course developed by an artist . Every week , it holds different festivals such as a classical music festival and a hip - hop festival that ran just last weekend . The island also has “ Free Bike Fridays ” so that anyone who comes to the island on Friday can pick up a bike and ride it for free . Koch said Governors Island can be a showcase for countries including Korea to show all the aspects of culture ― from food to arts to dance to music . “ Korea has such an exciting and dynamic new culture with great tradition but people outside Korea may not understand as much about Korean culture as they know about Chinese culture , ” she said . Koch said she particularly noticed the “ energy ” of Korea where much focus is on education , openness to the West , technology , innovation , design and art , and that she would promote Korea by relating all those ideas to each other . “ With Korea , it is important to communicate that energy and think about how culture is feeding the economy , and vice versa , ” she said . By Kim Yoon - mi ( yoonmi @ heraldm . com )