Aug 24, 2021
Things have been very busy here at NRPA as we gear up for the
2021 NRPA Annual
Conference coming up September 21-23. So busy, in fact, that we
don’t have a new episode of Open Space Radio for you today, but I
wanted to take the opportunity on our regularly scheduled release
day to release a bonus episode just to give you a sneak peak of
what I’ve been working on for conference.
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been recording some really
incredible conversations for our Coffee Talks that will be taking
place at the conference. These Coffee Talks will be airing each
morning and evening during the conference on the virtual platform,
and I’ll be talking with park and recreation professionals, program
participants, community leaders, NRPA staff and more, about the
important work and the incredible stories that happen in
parks and recreation. So, here are the brilliant guests who will be
joining me for Coffee Talks at this year’s conference:
Day One
- Morning: Autumn Saxton-Ross, NRPA’s vice
president of education and chief equity officer, will join me for
the first Coffee Talk to discuss how her first year at NRPA has
gone, what she’s been up to, and provide an update on how NRPA is
continuing to center equity in all we do.
- Evening: Ignacio Gallegos, a participant at
Fox Valley Special Recreation Association in Illinois and his
grandmother, Leticia DeLaFuente, will share how the programs at Fox
Valley have made Ignacio, who was born blind, feel included, helped
him participate and given him purpose in life.
-
Day Two
- Morning: Jodie Adams, a parks director
emeritus and past president of the NRPA BOD, will talk about an
NRPA oral history project that we’ll be integrating into the
podcast in the months ahead. We’ll be discussing the history of
NRPA as an organization, lessons learned and some amazing stories
from previous leaders.
- Evening: Luis Romahn, the president, CEO and
founder of Parques de México and the National Association of Parks
and Recreation Mexico, will discuss all the great work he and his
organization are doing to build a park and recreation movement in
Mexico and areas of Latin America, and how professionals in the
U.S. can support.
Day Three
- Morning: Kim and Claude Walker of the
Tennessee-based Abundant Life Adventure Club (who have also
previously been guests of Open Space Radio) will be updating me on
all the incredible things they’ve been up to and how they’re
empowering Black people to spend time in nature to inspire
wellness, abundant living and connection.
- Evening: Brodrick Clarke, vice president of
programs for National Summer Learning Association, Daniel Hatcher,
director of community partnerships for Alliance for a Healthier
Generation, and Allison Colman, NRPA’s director of health, join me
for a conversation about the importance of out-of-school time
programs and how they can continue to support equitable access to
learning, community healing, and the health and well-being of
youth.
I sincerely hope you will join us for the 2021 NRPA Annual
Conference, whether in Nashville or virtually. And, I hope you’ll
join me and the guests above for some great conversation each
morning and evening on the virtual platform. So, be sure to head
over to the conference
webpage to register! But, if you aren’t able to join, don’t
worry — some of these Coffee Talks also will be released throughout
the year as episodes of the podcast!
As always, thank you for everything you do and thanks for your
continued support of the show. I’ll be back in two weeks, and we’ll
be back to our regularly scheduled stories that showcase how
essential parks and recreation truly is. Talk to you then!