On this episode of Open Space Radio, we’re celebrating the incredible women in parks and recreation who are shaping the profession and making a difference in their communities. Women have long played a vital role in parks and recreation – but it has historically been a male-dominated industry. Today, the leadership and presence of women in the profession continue to grow. In fact, within NRPA’s membership of more than 60,000 park and recreation professionals: 47 percent of members identify as women 48 percent of 2023 NRPA Annual Conference attendees identified as women 53 percent of 2024 NRPA ..read more

On this episode of Open Space Radio, we explore the critical role that parks and recreation plays in advancing sports opportunities for all youth — especially girls. Providing these opportunities is more than just fairness; it’s about giving girls the opportunities and support they need to succeed, both on and off the field. Participation in sports is linked to increased self-esteem, better academic performance and higher career aspirations for girls. Sports also have the power to build confidence, foster leadership skills and create lifelong connections. However, girls often face barriers tha ..read more

Pictured: Teen Leaders in the HYPE program at City of Mesa Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities participate in an exercise to overcome obstacles. Photo courtesy of Blythe Brown.  Did you know that 74 percent of adults who were mentored as youth say their mentor contributed significantly to their success in life? Now, consider that more than 1 in 3 young people in America are growing up without a mentor. Fortunately, park and recreation professionals are addressing this gap by bringing more mentoring opportunities to youth across the country. And, NRPA is supporting these professiona ..read more

It’s our final episode of Open Space Radio for 2024! Did you know we released 15 episodes this year and talked with 27 amazing community leaders for a whopping 758 minutes of conversation (more than 12 hours!) about the power of parks and recreation? Thank you to everyone who joined us on the show to share their story this year and to everyone who tuned in to an episode. We truly love amplifying these stories through our platform and appreciate you trusting us with that! On today’s episode, we’re reflecting on some of our favorite moments from the year, as well as chatting about what we’ll be ..read more

On today’s episode of Open Space Radio, we’re excited to chat with someone very influential in the outdoor recreation industry who is doing a ton of good work to raise awareness about protecting our environment. Not only that, but he is also a leader when it comes to making the outdoors more equitable and accessible. José Gonzáles is the founder of Latino Outdoors, an organization working to bridge the gap and create more inclusive and accessible outdoor experiences and opportunities for Latino Communities. He also currently serves as the equity officer at East Bay Regional Park District in Oa ..read more

Season two of Open Space Radio begins today! For the next year, we will focus on conversations around the 2024 NRPA annual theme, “Where You Belong,” and we’re so excited to kick off this season with a wonderful conversation.   On today’s episode, we’re joined by Gabby Vera, CPRP, the regional park superintendent for Maricopa County (Arizona) Parks and Recreation. Between her session at the 2023 NRPA Annual Conference and her Open Space blog post, titled, “You’ve Got This” — which explored practical strategies to boost self-confidence, overcome imposter syndrome and thrive in your ..read more

  If you are an NRPA member, you may know that NRPA provides exclusive member networks to support your professional needs and development. These networks, ranging from Aquatics, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Armed Forces, Leadership Development, and more, are an opportunity to collaborate and connect with like-minded professionals from across the county.   One of these networks, which is highly engaged and doing a lot of amazing work in the profession, is the Young Professional Network, or YPN. The YPN serves NRPA members who are students and young professionals under the age of 3 ..read more

The January issue of Parks & Recreation magazine is out now, and on today’s bonus episode, I’m thrilled to welcome Maureen Neumann, NRPA’s Senior Health Program Manager, to discuss her feature article, “Celebrating Seven Years of Advancing Health Equity.” In her article, Maureen highlights winners of the RWJF-NRPA Award for Health Equity from the last seven years. Since 2016, this award has been presented annually, and recognizes park and recreation professionals who have worked to reduce health disparities and advance systems-level change in their communities to achieve health equity. I’m ..read more

We are getting very excited to travel to Atlanta (in just one week!) to connect with thousands of our closest park and recreation friends at the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference. And on today’s episode, we’re talking with someone who is local to the Atlanta area and might have some insider tips if you’ll be joining us next week. Jamiah Flagg, CPRP, is the operations coordinator at Douglasville Parks and Recreation in Georgia, and after sharing a blog post with us about her 2023 conference experience, we knew we wanted to chat with her further since this year’s conference is right in her backyard. W ..read more

On today’s episode, we welcome a superstar of out-of-school time programming! The DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is making a huge impact on youth in the DC area through its weekly after-school group mentoring program, Roving Leaders. Among countless initiatives and opportunities that are part of the program, top of mind this time of year is the fact that Roving Leaders visit with students in schools outside of program times. They are truly going the extra mile.     DPR’s Roving Leaders program has been around since the 1950s, building relationships of trust with tee ..read more