Happy Earth Month! On today’s episode, we’re excited to share a collaboration with NRPA’s new podcast, Guardians of Greenspaces.

Guardians of Greenspaces is a podcast focused on conservation from a park and recreation maintenance lens. Hosted by Rukmini Kalamangalam, a program specialist on NRPA’s community and environmental resilience team, Guardians of Greenspaces uplifts voices of experts in the field and will drop weekly for the next 10 weeks.

We recently caught up with Rukmini to learn more about this new podcast and how it will bring value to maintenance staff working in the conservation and environmental resilience space. Tune in below to learn:

• Some of NRPA’s priorities as they relate to environmental resilience
• What prompted the creation of Guardians of Greenspaces
• What listeners can expect to learn on future episodes
• Interesting things Rukmini has learned hosting the podcast (like why people might not like tall grass)
• How you could win a $50 gift card to the NRPA retail store for listening

Plus, you’ll hear the very first episode of Guardians of Greenspaces focused on staff engagement at the San Antonio River Authority!

Additional Resources:

• NRPA’s Environmental Resilience Pillar
• NRPA’s Earth Month Resources

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 Directors School attendees identified as women
• 47 percent of Certified Park and Recreation Professionals (CPRP) identify as women

We recently asked women in parks and recreation to share their experiences with us, and we got some wonderful responses. Tune in to the full episode to hear from:

• Kristine Stratton, NRPA president and CEO, gives a shoutout to women who have shaped the profession and NRPA staff who are leading impactful work
• Katie Groke, CPRP, director of community services at Apex Park and Recreation District (Colorado), shares how the former executive director of her department laid the groundwork for a lot of women at Apex to grow their careers
• Gabby Vera, CPRP, director of Lake Havasu City Parks and Recreation (Arizona), shares how she’s making history by being the first female director at her department and the youngest director in Arizona
• Nikki Taylor, CPRP, assistant director of recreation for Town of Bedford (Massachusetts), shares how her department can empower girls and women and the importance of leading by example
• Renee Glosecki, a project manager at Orange County Parks (California), shares how she’s making a lasting impact on women’s history by paving the way for future generations of women in leadership roles
• Ali Rhodes, director of Parks and Recreation at City of Boulder (Colorado), shares how two impactful women who worked for her department in the 1990s provided her the honor of supporting a well-planned parks and recreation system.

And, we received another response after recording that we wanted to share, from Joan Scovic of Northbrook Park District in Illinois, who gave a shoutout to women leaders in Illinois:

• Carrie Fullerton, Arlington Heights Park District
• Lisa Sheppard, Glencoe Park District
• Elizabeth Kessler, McHenry County Conservation District
• Laura Rudow, St. Charles Park District
• Allison Niemela, Batavia Park District
• Alex Engelhardt, Fox Valley Special Recreation Association

Joan shared: “These women are all amazing leaders in the field of parks and recreation in Illinois (and around the country). They are phenomenal examples of how to be a female leader in this field, and show incredible support to other women. They take the time to educate, share their career paths and mentor others, and are models for other women who strive to be leaders and those who want to excel in service to their communities. They accomplish all of this with intelligence, compassion, humor and warmth, and have all achieved amazing things for the profession, for their communities, and for the women who are lucky enough to be in their spheres of influence.”

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Women in Parks and Recreation Facebook Group
• Women in Parks and Recreation Webpage
• NRPA Youth Sports Framework

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 that prevent them from participating and staying engaged. This episode brings together leaders from various organizations to discuss strategies for making sports more inclusive and empowering for young girls.

Tune in to the full episode below to hear from experts in this space who are making a huge impact, including:

• Teresa Morrissey, Senior Program Manager at NRPA

• Kelsey Moore, Director of Social & Community Impact at Nike

• Jillian Green Loughran, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport

• Julia Lankford, Director of Operations at Laureus USA Sport for Good Atlanta

You’ll learn about the importance of engaging girls in youth sports, as well as:

• The key role parks and recreation plays in providing accessible, affordable and high-quality sports opportunities (they reach more than 40 million youth annually!)

• Why collaboration and partnerships are key to advancing girls’ participation in sports

• Strategies to break down barriers preventing girls from participating and staying in sports

• How coaches – specifically women coaches – play such a critical role in advancing this work

• How your park and recreation agency can be part of this movement and get more girls in the game

• And much more!

By investing in inclusive sports programming, training coaches and fostering partnerships, park and recreation agencies can help ensure that every girl who wants to play has the opportunity to do so.

Thank you to our guests for their insights and dedication to advancing gender equity in sports. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to Open Space Radio and share it with others who are passionate about the power of sports to change lives.

Resources Discussed on this Episode:

• NRPA Youth Sports Framework

• Play to Lead Report: The Generational Impact of Sports on Women’s Leadership

• Nike Coaching Girls Guide: How to Get (and Keep) Girls Playing – Strategies for Engaging & Retaining Girls in Sport

• Body Confident Sport

• Coaching HER

• Nike Super Bowl Ad: So Win.

• Center for Healing and Justice through Sport

• Laureus USA Sport for Good Atlanta

Have feedback about this episode or Open Space Radio overall? Share it with us!

If you enjoyed this episode or learned something that might help you make a positive impact in your community, please consider donating to NRPA. Your gift will support our storytelling efforts and our mission to advance parks, recreation and environmental resilience efforts that enhance the quality of life for all at nrpa.org/donate.

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 up to in 2025 — like scaling back to monthly episodes to bring you even richer, more compelling stories packed with even more voices from the profession.

Tune in to the full episode below to reflect on the year with us and listen to some powerful clips from the following episodes:

• Imposter Syndrome Is Real — Episode 149
• Make an Impact by Leading with a Mentoring Mindset — Episode 150
• Creating Space for Belonging in Juneau, Alaska — Episode 152
• Creating a World Where Humanity Stands Out — Episode 153
• Fostering Belonging Through Community Theater — Episode 156
• Inclusive Adventures: Building Belonging Through Adaptive Recreation — Episode 157
• From Access to Action: How We Can Thrive Like a Meadow — Episode 159
• Roving Leaders: Decades of Empowering Youth in D.C. — Episode 161
• From Newcomer to Seasoned Professional: Navigating the NRPA Annual Conference — Episode 162
• Sustainability and Environmental Resilience in Parks — Episode 163

Be sure to tune in to every episode here!

Have feedback about this episode or Open Space Radio overall? Share it with us!

If you enjoyed this episode or learned something that might help you make a positive impact in your community, please consider donating to NRPA to support not only our storytelling efforts, but also our mission to advance parks, recreation and conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all at nrpa.org/donate.

Sustainability and Environmental Resilience in Parks — Episode 163

On today’s episode of Open Space Radio, I’m excited to share our collab episode with GovLove Podcast, which we recorded live back in October at the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference.

This was our first live episode recording — with an audience. So, besides the obvious nerves that came along with that, it was such a fun, enriching conversation and it definitely won’t be our last! I was honored to co-host this conversation alongside Ben Kittleson, manager at Raftelis and co-host/producer of GovLove. GovLove is a production of Engaging Local Government Leaders and is a podcast about local government with the goal of telling informative and unique stories about the work being done at the local level.

On this episode, we discuss the important environmental resilience work taking place in Columbus, Ohio, and Boulder, Colorado, as well as how NRPA’s Sustainability in Practice program equips park and recreation professionals to develop and implement community-driven sustainability practices. Joining us were the brilliant:

• Bernita Reese, director of recreation and parks for City of Columbus, Ohio
• Ali Rhodes, director of parks and recreation for the City of Boulder, Colorado
• Michele White, senior program manager for NRPA.

Tune in to learn how park and recreation professionals are essential in advancing climate solutions to build a healthy, resilient and equitable future. You’ll also learn:

• How you might already be doing this work, just not naming it explicitly
• Park-specific sustainability actions and planning principles to assist your efforts
• Strategies to enhance support from your community and local leadership
• Ways of embedding sustainability and resilience into your organization, as opposed to having it perceived as “another thing”
• And so much more!

I want to give a special shoutout and thanks to everyone who joined us for the live recording — we appreciate you showing up and supporting both of our shows and the important work we discussed. And for those about to listen for the first time, thank you for tuning in! I hope this transports you to the conference so you can feel a bit of the energy if you weren’t able to join us.

I hope you enjoy the episode, learn something new, and if you have any ideas for a topic we can discuss on a live recording at next year’s conference, send us an email at openspace@nrpa.org!

Related Links:

• NRPA’s Sustainability in Practice Program (Apply by November 15!)
• Columbus Recreation and Parks
• City of Boulder Parks and Recreation
• GovLove Podcast

Have feedback about this episode or Open Space Radio overall? Share it with us!

If you enjoyed this episode or learned something that might help you make a positive impact in your community, please consider donating to NRPA to not only support our storytelling efforts, but also our mission to advance parks, recreation and conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all at nrpa.org/donate.

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.

We discussed what receiving NRPA’s Diversity Scholarship in 2023 meant to her, how her conference experience motivated her to become a Certified Park and Recreation Professional, and the boost in confidence she feels with another year of experience under her belt.

Tune in below to learn more about Jamiah, her conference tips and more. You’ll also learn:

• What inspired Jamiah to get into the field of parks and recreation
• What Jamiah’s 2023 NRPA Annual Conference experience meant to her
• What she’s looking forward to at the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference
• Tips for conference attendees and recommendations for first-time Atlanta visitors
• Why Jamiah feels like parks and recreation is where she belongs
• And much more!

Related:

• Connect with Jamiah on LinkedIn
• Douglasville Parks and Recreation

Have feedback about this episode or Open Space Radio overall? Share it with us!

If you enjoyed this episode or learned something that might help you make a positive impact in your community, please consider donating to NRPA to not only support our storytelling efforts, but also our mission to advance parks, recreation and conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all at nrpa.org/donate.

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 teens, youth, professionals, community leaders, and public and private sector organizations.

The mission of the program is to prevent, neutralize, and control hostile behavior in youth and youth groups through the development of positive relationships between teens/youth and outreach workers. Roving Leaders utilize recreation and leisure time activities as the intervening vehicles for redirecting antisocial and aggressive behaviors.

At the center of the program is Danielle Hunter, chief of the Roving Leaders. Danielle has been with DPR for more than 24 years, and her impact has certainly been felt across the city.

Tune in below to learn more about Danielle and this impactful program. You’ll also learn:

• Ways the Roving Leaders are engaging youth in the community and the types of activities involved
• How the program is impacting youth in DC
• What qualifications or training Roving Leaders undergo to effectively mentor and support youth
• How the program and DPR are providing safe, culturally relevant and effective resources
• How NRPA’s Out-of-School Time Youth Mentoring Grant helped to expand access to this program
• What the future holds for the Roving Leaders Program and much more!

Related Links:

• DCDPR’s Roving Leaders
• Follow Roving Leaders on Instagram
• Follow DCDPR on Instagram