McKnight serves with a group of city leaders on the Mayor of New Orleans’ Healthy Baton Rouge Task Force and helped protect and preserve 800 acres of parkland; organizing and implementing the Community Healthy Fair, which involved more than 50 agencies, businesses and professional agencies serving more than 32,000 participants; successfully linking BREC’s 10-year strategic plan with 28 different organizations to achieve critical outcomes over the next 10 years; and leveraging more than $200 million in public-private and public-public funding support.

McKnight, who serves on the National Gold Medal Committee, has also served in a number of roles for NRPA, including as CAPRA accreditation commissioner, committee chair for the NRPA Baltimore Maryland Conference Education Program (2008), NRPA/North Carolina State University Board Supervisors’ Management School instructor (2006 to 2012) and chair of that board (2011 to 2012), Directors School instructor (2009 to 2013 and present), chair of the Ethnic Minority Society (2007) and Mentoring Program Leader (2013 to present). She received the Exemplary Service Citation from the NRPA Board of Trustees in 2008 and has also been an American Academy of Park and Recreation Administrators Fellow since then.

Jesús Aguirre is chief executive officer of Waterloo Greenway in Austin, Texas. He joins Waterloo Greenway from the City of Seattle, where he has served as superintendent of the Department of Parks and Recreation for almost six years. Aguirre has more than 20 years of public service leadership experience in several major metropolitan jurisdictions, including Los Angeles; New York City; Phoenix; Washington, D.C.; and Seattle.

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, Aguirre received a master of business administration from Arizona State University. Prior to his work in Seattle, he served as director of the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation, where he oversaw more than $115 million in facility design, construction and redevelopment efforts in the nation’s capital. In addition, Aguirre has also worked in the education sector, starting off as a middle school science teacher, and ultimately serving as the state superintendent of education for the District of Columbia. Aguirre and his wife co-founded and ran a nonprofit, kindergarten through eighth grade, dual-language charter school in Phoenix for 10 years. He serves on the boards of the National Recreation and Park Association and Children and Nature Network, and is a member of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration.

Susie Kuruvilla entered the park district world in 1997 as the superintendent of business services for Gurnee Park District in Illinois. In 2006, she was promoted as the executive director. Kuruvilla is a certified public accountant and has worked in the private sector and in a municipality previously.

In 2010, the district won the National Gold Medal Award under Kuruvilla’s leadership. The district also achieved the Distinguished Accreditation Agency Award from the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) in 2010 and 2015. In 2013, Kuruvilla led the acquisition of a 75,000-square-foot Gold’s Gym facility and converted it into a park district-owned fitness facility named FitNation.

Kuruvilla spearheaded a movement in Gurnee, named “GO Gurnee,” inspired by the message delivered by former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, at the 2015 NRPA Annual Conference. GO Gurnee encourages people to walk 30 minutes each day. The movement became so successful that it has been modeled in 25 other communities throughout Lake County in the past three years through a partnership with the Lake County Health Department.

Under Kuruvilla’s leadership, the Gurnee Park District has thrived financially while maintaining the standard of excellence in customer service.

Kuruvilla has served on various boards and committees and made many contributions to the field of parks and recreation over the past 20 years. She has served on the finance committees for IAPD, as well as the Park District Risk Management Agency (PDRMA). She currently serves as the chairperson for the PDRMA Health Benefits Committee and recently joined the board of directors for HR Source, a human resources (HR) association that provides HR-related consultation for public and private organizations including many park districts. Kuruvilla is an active member on the Joint Legislative Committee led by IAPD.

Kuruvilla is a member of the local Exchange Club and Healthy Community Healthy Youth, a local organization focused on the health and well-being of young adults in the community. At a national level, Kuruvilla has served as a judge for the National Gold Medal Award for the past five years finishing her term as head judge in 2019.

Kuruvilla has accomplished much during her tenure in the field. She has excelled at balancing work and play and aspires to give back to the parks and recreation field at a local, state and national level. She holds a strong desire to impact lives by expanding parks and recreational opportunities and improving quality of life for all.

Dr. Joshua T. Medeiros serves as the superintendent of Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services for the City of Bristol, Connecticut and as an adjunct professor in the Department of Recreation, Tourism and Sport Management at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. Medeiros has an earned doctorate degree in educational leadership and a master’s degree in parks and recreation administration. Medeiros is a faculty member of the NRPA Directors School and is a practitioner representative on the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions. Medeiros is a Certified Parks and Recreation Executive (CPRE) and is an award winner of both his state and national park and recreation associations. He is a passionate, collaborative and engaging leader with executive level experience across several municipalities, a proven track record of excellence in administering multimillion-dollar department budgets, providing top-tier customer service to the public, managing all aspects of large-scale capital improvement projects, and developing master and strategic plans to guide long-range planning.

Mollie Marsh-Heine is the chief development officer for Natural Resources Defense Council.

Originally from Tennessee, Marsh-Heine attended high school, college and graduate school in Colorado. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in 1993, followed by a master’s in business administration in 1999. Part of Marsh-Heine’s college experience included a year and a half at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

From an early age, Marsh-Heine has been drawn to the nonprofit world — working as an outdoor educator with the Denver Public Schools, Outward Bound instructor, youth intervention specialist, child advocate, outdoor education director, and eventually moving into more challenging leadership roles.

From 1999 to 2004, Marsh-Heine worked for the Colorado Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as director of operations, followed by three and a half years as the executive director for The Dairy Center for the Arts, a multi-disciplinary arts center in Boulder, Colorado. Her true passion stayed in environmental work, and she returned to TNC as director of philanthropy to lead their fundraising efforts for the continent of Africa. Her tenure with TNC culminated in a promotion to partner with the CEO and various vice presidents of The Nature Conservancy as a senior principal gifts officer — working with donors at the highest levels of philanthropy in complex and sophisticated donor engagement.

Marsh-Heine then continued her path as a philanthropy professional and passionate environmentalist in her role as senior vice president of development with Earthjustice before joining Natural Resources Defense Council.

When not trying to save the planet, Marsh-Heine lives in the foothills of Boulder County, Colorado, with her partner Seth, their children and Scout the Airedale Terrier. She enjoys just about every outdoor sport there is, live music, theater and art, wine and laughter with friends, and time with her family.

Nonet T. Sykes is the first chief equity and inclusion officer for the Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI) and, as such, leads the development and implementation of ABI’s comprehensive equity and inclusion vision, strategy and action plan. As a member of the executive team, Sykes leads an organization-wide effort to operationalize ABI’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, and to implement strategies that stabilize communities, increase housing affordability, spur job creation and ensure economic opportunity.

Sykes was previously director of racial equity and inclusion at the Annie E. Casey Foundation where she led the organization’s equity and inclusion strategies and invested resources to identify, implement and promote the most effective approaches to increase equitable opportunities and outcomes for children, families and communities of color. Sykes’ 20 plus years of experience spans the areas of racial equity and inclusion, community and economic development, strategic leadership, nonprofit capacity building and change management.

Sykes also serves on the board of directors for the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative.

Sykes is a certified professional diversity coach and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Baltimore, and a Certificate in Organizational Consulting and Change Leadership from Georgetown University.

NRPA partners with foundations, federal agencies and corporations that recognize the critical role of parks in creating healthy and sustainable communities. The organization grants millions of dollars each year to its members to implement programs that have measurable objectives, such as increasing equitable park access, reducing obesity, increasing physical activity, saving wildlife, connecting children to nature and implementing green infrastructure in communities nationwide. Access to quality parks and recreation is a critical component to an individual’s success and to strong communities, and NRPA focuses on underserved communities to give everyone access to a great park.

A staunch advocate for environmental conservation and equity issues, Stratton believes strongly in NRPA’s mission. Before coming to NRPA, Stratton was the senior vice president of operations at Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest organization dedicated to litigating environmental issues. Prior to that, she served as the executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance in New York, New York, and before that she was vice president of operations at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts. She also served in several administrative and senior management roles at WGBH Educational Foundation, a public broadcasting station, in Boston, Massachusetts. Stratton holds a Master of Arts degree in environmental policy and planning from Tufts University and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Boston University.

Abbaté graduated magna cum laude from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in landscape architecture. He is a registered landscape architect in Oregon, certified nationally through the Council of Landscape Architects Registration Board, and a LEED™-accredited professional. He is the author of Gardening Eden, published by Random House.

Kathy Abbott is the first president and CEO of Boston Harbor Now, an organization that partners with public agencies, community leaders, businesses and other nonprofits to realize Boston Harbor’s potential to benefit the city and region. Upon assuming this role, Abbott has come full circle since beginning her career in college on the Harbor Islands as a park ranger to currently leading Boston Harbor Now. She is responsible for working with the board and staff to create a welcoming and resilient harbor that benefits everyone in the Greater Boston region. Abbott has a history of leading change through public and nonprofit organizations, including advancing statewide park planning, management and land conservation, educating students and impacting resource-based economies in primarily developing countries through applied environmental studies, creating a new national park through a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership in Boston Harbor, creating and managing a statewide park system, increasing funding for public parks in Massachusetts, and growing the impact of the only year-round botanic garden in New England. She asserts that she has never done this work alone and credits great teams and collaborations for her success.

Abbott has worked locally and globally and volunteered nationally to advance the interests of urban parks as the co-chair of the City Parks Alliance. Her experience as an executive and entrepreneur in government and nonprofits uniquely qualifies her to build upon the successes of the current waterfront renaissance. Her proudest accomplishments have come as a volunteer working with kids throughout her career, as a former foster mother and now as a proud mom of a 30-year-old daughter. In 2016, she was named one of Boston’s Power 50 by the Boston Business Journal, and in 2018, was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston by Boston Magazine. She received her degrees from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at University of Massachusetts Amherst and Harvard University.

Rebecca Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of the advertising company, North. With a career in agency and design management spanning 30 years, Armstrong has seen trends come and go. But to her, two key marketing tenets endure: tell the truth and make the truth fascinating. 

Armstrong is most proud of the work she has done with her partners at North to build an advertising powerhouse known for the craft of strategic thinking, its insistence on close collaboration with clients and its uniquely differentiating and effective creative product. In its 16 years, North has served Columbia Sportswear, Hydro Flask, Clif Bar, Peet’s Coffee and Pacific Foods, among many others.

Armstrong has served on boards for Big Brothers Big Sisters, Portland Advertising Federation and Providence Cancer Institute. She is a passionate advocate for access to the outdoors for all, having been the lucky beneficiary of its restorative affects her whole life.

Diaz holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Miami, a juris doctorate from Columbia Law School and a certificate in energy planning and policy from the University of Idaho.

Lakita Frazier is the CEO of Women in Parks and Recreation. Previously she served as executive director of the Richland County Recreation Commission. She is a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional (CPRP) with more than 20 years of experience in recreation program planning, staff development, capital project implementation and strategic planning. During her time as the director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Suffolk (Virginia) Department of Parks and Recreation, the agency thrived achieving national accreditation and received several local, state and national awards for facilities and programs. Under her leadership, Frazier planned and implemented $25 million capital projects increasing the park system’s facilities by 45 percent.

Frazier’s work has been recognized on the state and national level where she has served as president of the Virginia Recreation and Parks Society and a Diversity Scholar for the National Recreation and Parks Association. Frazier was recently selected as fellow for the American Academy for Parks and Recreation Administration and is a regent for the National Revenue

Management and Development School. In addition to her work with mentoring young professionals, Frazier serves on the advisory committee for GP RED, which is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to fully recognize and expand research, education and resource development activities for community “quality of life” agencies.

The Virginia native currently holds the chair seat for the National Recreation and Parks Ethnic Minority Society and is past chair of the National Recreation and Parks Association’s Leadership Development Network. She also founded the Women in Parks and Recreation Facebook group, which boasts more than 7,000 members after less than a year of recruitment.

Frazier attended Norfolk State University where she earned her bachelor's degree in social work. She is finishing a master's degree in public administration from Liberty University. She lives in Richland County, South Carolina, with her three children.

Angelou Ezeilo is vice president, Empathy for Ashoka Africa (Nairobi, Kenya). She also is founder and senior advisor of the Greening Youth Foundation.

Ezeilo’s love for the environment stretches far back to when she was a little girl who had the chance to escape the dense urban streets of Jersey City, New Jersey, to summer in upstate New York.

After a brief stint of practicing law, it was through her work as a legal specialist for the New Jersey State Agriculture and Development Committee that Ezeilo embarked upon a career as an environmentalist.

She further honed her skills as a project manager for The Trust for Public Land (TPL) in both its New Jersey and Georgia offices. In her position, Ezeilo acquired land for preservation and worked on the New York/New Jersey Highlands Program, Parks for People-Newark, the New York/New Jersey Harbor Program in New Jersey, the Atlanta BeltLine and the 20 County Regional Greenspace Initiative in Georgia. While at TPL, Ezeilo realized the disconnect between the land that was being preserved and the education of people about that preservation — particularly as it related to our next generation. This was the impetus for the Greening Youth Foundation. As a woman and minority-founded and led nonprofit, Ezeilo is at the helm of a movement to provide environmental and wellness education and career pathways to a diverse young generation, both in the United States and in countries throughout Africa.

Ezeilo was elected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2016 for her work at the Greening Youth Foundation, where she remains the CEO today. The Greening Youth Foundation is cultivating a generation of youth of color to be stewards of our land and natural resources, ultimately shifting the demographics of the environment conservation movement.

Ezeilo is a graduate of Spelman College, Georgia. She received her Juris Doctorate in law from the University of Florida, College of Law. Ezeilo is a member of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights' Women's Solidarity Society and Georgia Audubon boards; advisory board member for Outdoor Afro, The Million Mile Greenway, Inc., Keeping It Wild, Inc., and Rachel's Network; and most recently the author of “Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders."

Ezeilo is a lover of cultural dance, hiking and birds; and, good avocado toast! As recent empty-nesters, Ezeilo and her husband of 25 years, split their time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Lagos, Nigeria.

Since 2009, Phil Ginsburg has been the general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, which oversees 4,000 acres of open space and more than 225 parks in the city. Ginburgs’ focus has been equitable park access. In 2018, San Francisco became the first city in the country where 100 percent of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
 
In 2019, Ginsburg was appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission by Governor Gavin Newsom. Recently, he was unanimously confirmed by California State Senate to second term on the commission where he serves as vice chair. Ginsburg serves as a national board member on the City Parks Alliance, a national urban parks advocacy organization; sits on the Parks Recovery Task Force for NRPA; and is a founding co-chair of San Francisco Children and Nature. He has been selected as a 2023 Fellow to Academy of Parks and Recreation Administrative Professionals. Ginsburg also coaches the mighty Bayview United Soccer Club, San Francisco’s first free public soccer club for Bayview youth.

Mollie Marsh-Heine is the chief development officer for Natural Resources Defense Council.

Originally from Tennessee, Marsh-Heine attended high school, college and graduate school in Colorado. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado in 1993, followed by a master’s in business administration in 1999. Part of Marsh-Heine’s college experience included a year and a half at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

From an early age, Marsh-Heine has been drawn to the nonprofit world — working as an outdoor educator with the Denver Public Schools, Outward Bound instructor, youth intervention specialist, child advocate, outdoor education director, and eventually moving into more challenging leadership roles.

From 1999 to 2004, Marsh-Heine worked for the Colorado Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as director of operations, followed by three and a half years as the executive director for The Dairy Center for the Arts, a multi-disciplinary arts center in Boulder, Colorado. Her true passion stayed in environmental work, and she returned to TNC as director of philanthropy to lead their fundraising efforts for the continent of Africa. Her tenure with TNC culminated in a promotion to partner with the CEO and various vice presidents of The Nature Conservancy as a senior principal gifts officer — working with donors at the highest levels of philanthropy in complex and sophisticated donor engagement.

Marsh-Heine then continued her path as a philanthropy professional and passionate environmentalist in her role as senior vice president of development with Earthjustice before joining Natural Resources Defense Council.

When not trying to save the planet, Marsh-Heine lives in the foothills of Boulder County, Colorado, with her partner Seth, their children and Scout the Airedale Terrier. She enjoys just about every outdoor sport there is, live music, theater and art, wine and laughter with friends, and time with her family.

Susie Kuruvilla entered the park district world in 1997 as the superintendent of business services for Gurnee Park District in Illinois. In 2006, she was promoted as the executive director. Kuruvilla is a certified public accountant and has worked in the private sector and in a municipality previously.

In 2010, the district won the National Gold Medal Award under Kuruvilla’s leadership. The district also achieved the Distinguished Accreditation Agency Award from the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD) in 2010 and 2015. In 2013, Kuruvilla led the acquisition of a 75,000-square-foot Gold’s Gym facility and converted it into a park district-owned fitness facility named FitNation.

Kuruvilla spearheaded a movement in Gurnee, named “GO Gurnee,” inspired by the message delivered by former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, at the 2015 NRPA Annual Conference. GO Gurnee encourages people to walk 30 minutes each day. The movement became so successful that it has been modeled in 25 other communities throughout Lake County in the past three years through a partnership with the Lake County Health Department.

Under Kuruvilla’s leadership, the Gurnee Park District has thrived financially while maintaining the standard of excellence in customer service. 

Kuruvilla has served on various boards and committees and made many contributions to the field of parks and recreation over the past 20 years. She has served on the finance committees for IAPD, as well as the Park District Risk Management Agency (PDRMA). She currently serves as the chairperson for the PDRMA Health Benefits Committee and recently joined the board of directors for HR Source, a human resources (HR) association that provides HR-related consultation for public and private organizations including many park districts. Kuruvilla is an active member on the Joint Legislative Committee led by IAPD.

Kuruvilla is a member of the local Exchange Club and Healthy Community Healthy Youth, a local organization focused on the health and well-being of young adults in the community. At a national level, Kuruvilla has served as a judge for the National Gold Medal Award for the past five years finishing her term as head judge in 2019.

Kuruvilla has accomplished much during her tenure in the field. She has excelled at balancing work and play and aspires to give back to the parks and recreation field at a local, state and national level. She holds a strong desire to impact lives by expanding parks and recreational opportunities and improving quality of life for all.

McKnight-Fredd serves with a group of city leaders on the Mayor of New Orleans’ Healthy Baton Rouge Task Force and helped protect and preserve 800 acres of parkland; organizing and implementing the Community Healthy Fair, which involved more than 50 agencies, businesses and professional agencies serving more than 32,000 participants; successfully linking BREC’s 10-year strategic plan with 28 different organizations to achieve critical outcomes over the next 10 years; and leveraging more than $200 million in public-private and public-public funding support.

McKnight-Fredd, who serves on the National Gold Medal Committee, has also served in a number of roles for NRPA, including as CAPRA accreditation commissioner, committee chair for the NRPA Baltimore Maryland Conference Education Program (2008), NRPA/North Carolina State University Board Supervisors’ Management School instructor (2006 to 2012) and chair of that board (2011-2012), Directors School instructor (2009-2013 and present), chair of the Ethnic Minority Society (2007) and Mentoring Program Leader (2013 - present). She received the Exemplary Service Citation from the NRPA Board of Trustees in 2008 and has also been an American Academy of Park and Recreation Administrators Fellow since then.

Dr. Joshua T. Medeiros serves as the superintendent of Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services for the City of Bristol, Connecticut and as an adjunct professor in the Department of Recreation, Tourism and Sport Management at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. Medeiros has an earned doctorate degree in educational leadership and a master’s degree in parks and recreation administration. Medeiros is a faculty member of the NRPA Directors School and is a practitioner representative on the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions. Medeiros is a Certified Parks and Recreation Executive (CPRE) and is an award winner of both his state and national park and recreation associations. He is a passionate, collaborative and engaging leader with executive level experience across several municipalities, a proven track record of excellence in administering multimillion-dollar department budgets, providing top-tier customer service to the public, managing all aspects of large-scale capital improvement projects, and developing master and strategic plans to guide long-range planning.

John Prue, CPRP, is the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) program analyst for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. In direct support of the fleet readiness director (N92), Prue conducts analytical and evaluative duties to assess the overall effectiveness of MWR programs at 14 installations and nine annex sites across a nine-state area.  

Previously, Prue served as the installation program director for the MWR Department at Naval Station Great Lakes. As the chief administrator for the commanding officer, he assured a comprehensive quality-of-life program for more than 25,000 Navy personnel, their family members, retirees and other eligible patrons. He had management oversight of an organization that employed approximately 365 team members and had more than 20 different facilities and programs that included general recreation, sports and fitness, community activities, child and youth services, a lodging/hospitality program, entertainment clubs, restaurants and other revenue-producing business activities. In 2012, Prue’s MWR team won the coveted National Gold Medal Award and was the first-ever military installation to win this award. Under his leadership, the MWR team consistently held the Commander Navy Installations Command (CNIC) Five-Star Accreditation, which exemplifies the highest standards of MWR operations and management. In September 2020, Prue retired from Naval Station Great Lakes after 34 years of service.

In 2017, Prue served as a special assistant to the Department of Defense (DoD) Warrior Games, supporting the coordination, planning and sponsorship for a nine-day Paralympic-style adaptive sports competition in City of Chicago. The DoD Warrior Games played host to 265 wounded warriors from all branches of the armed services, including athletes from the United Kingdom and Australia.

Prue has been an active member of NRPA and the Armed Forces Recreation Network, speaking at numerous conferences, contributing to Parks & Recreation magazine, serving on the Conference Program Committee for eight years and as the committee chairperson in 2020. He also is an elected member of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, serving as one of 125 practitioners and educators throughout the country who enhance the practice of park and recreation administration and broader public understanding of the importance of parks and recreation.

Prue holds a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a master’s degree in management from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri. He has received numerous individual awards to date, including the Department of the Navy’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 2020 and in 2003 for his outstanding contributions to the Navy mission. In addition, he received the Armed Forces Recreation Society Fellow Award in 1993 and the Executive Fellow Award in 2008 for his achievements in improving the quality of life for active-duty personnel and their family members. Upon his retirement from the MWR director position, he received the Navy MWR Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of services at Naval Station Great Lakes and support to the overall Navy MWR mission.

Arnold L. Randall is the general superintendent of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (Forest Preserves) and is responsible for the day-to-day management of one of the nation’s oldest and largest forest preserve systems. He was appointed to this position by Forest Preserves President Toni Preckwinkle in December 2010. During Randall’s tenure, the Forest Preserves has made notable strides in becoming a more transparent, accountable and strategic government agency, with an increased focus on restoring and protecting Cook County’s most precious natural areas. Key accomplishments include the ambitious Next Century Conservation Plan; a multi-year Centennial celebration to bring new and diverse audiences to the preserves; developing and launching strategic plans for camping, recreation, trails and habitat restoration; creating an independent advisory Conservation and Policy Council comprised of civic and business leaders; and opening five new campgrounds that re-establish the legacy of camping in the preserves.

Randall previously served as director of the Office of Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago, where he helped plan and coordinate major public projects undertaken by the University, working as a liaison between the University and the city, neighbors and other concerned parties. He was a key part of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee’s community outreach team and previously worked as commissioner of the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development, where he directed the department’s leadership responsibilities for promoting economic development in Chicago by helping new and existing businesses meet their goals for growth while creating new jobs for city residents.

In addition, Randall served in a number of roles with the Chicago Park District between 1995 and 2007, including director of legislative and community affairs, director of planning and development, and lakefront area and southeast region manager. Highlights of his tenure included leading the district’s efforts to coordinate and host an urban parks summit featuring representatives from the 25 most populated cities in the United States, which resulted in an urban parks federal agenda; overseeing the park district’s capital improvement plan, including the initial planning and community workshops for the development of Northerly Island; and managing the operation of 126 park locations on the south side of Chicago.

Randall holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Chicago and attended the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.

Randall has been active in numerous civic and professional organizations, including Chicago Community Development Commission (serving as the chairman), Chicago Wilderness (serving as the chairman), The Chicago Plan Commission, Commission on Chicago Landmarks, the Public Buildings Commission, the Woodlawn Children’s Promise Community, Woodlawn New Communities Program, American City Planning Directors’ Council, American Planning Association, Illinois Parks and Recreation Association, NRPA, the South East Chicago Commission Executive Committee, the Harper Court Foundation Board, and the 53rd Street TIFAdvisory Board.

Cheredith Rhone is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana. She earned a Bachelor of Science double majoring in business management and finance from Centenary College of Louisiana, as well as a Master of Management with a specialization in energy finance from Tulane University, becoming the first African American female graduate of the Master of Management in Energy program.

Rhone was appointed by Mayor Adrian Perkins and confirmed unanimously by the city council. She serves as the division manager of administration for City of Shreveport, Shreveport Public Assembly Parks and Recreation department. In this role, she serves as a member of the senior management team, charting the direction of the department, ensuring its accountability to all constituents and effective operation. After becoming a certified fraud examiner, she developed the City of Shreveport’s first comprehensive anti-fraud policy while serving as interim assistant CAO.

As a member of the Government Finance Officers Association – Budgeting and Fiscal Policy Committee, she serves in Washington, D.C., and Chicago as the committee’s youngest member. Rhone advises the Government Finance Officers Association by recommending and developing management, public finance and budgeting policies. She serves on the board of directors at Tulane University, A.B. Freeman School of Business. The board represents more than 20,000 alumni and students and hosts the annual Tulane Business Forum, which features nationally- and internationally-renowned business leaders. Rhone also serves on the board of directors of Thrive Unburdened, LLC, an organization dedicated to providing mental health support and therapy for teenagers and young adults.

Rhone also has served on various boards and committees, including the Generation Progress National Leadership Council in Washington, D.C., Women in Government Relations, Shreveport Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Initiative, Providence House Youth Advisory Board, and Centenary College Conduct Court. She received the 2022 Top Business Professional of the Year award from the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce. She was nominated as a “change maker” and attended The White House Summit on the United State of Women, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. She is the owner and founder of C.D. Rhone Capital Management, LLC, where she manages her real estate portfolio.

Breece Robertson combines geospatial technology and storytelling to inspire, activate, educate and engage people to protect our planet. She is a noteworthy leader in the conservation and parks field with more than two decades of experience. She currently holds the position of Chief Impact Officer at One Tree Planted. Previously, she served as director of partnerships and strategy at the Center for Geospatial Solutions at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, engaging in geospatial initiatives to connect partner ecosystems and guides game-changing geospatial innovations to fill critical gaps and improve upon legacy methodologies to meet ambitious land, water, climate and equity goals. She also created and led the geographic information system (GIS), research and planning unit at The Trust for Public Land and built strategic initiatives, like ParkScore, ParkServe and Greenprinting. In 2006, she was awarded the Esri Special Achievement in GIS award and in 2012, the Making a Difference award. She authored a book, Protecting the Places We Love, which was published in April 2021 by Esri Press. When she’s not protecting places, she’s exploring and enjoying them.

Nonet T. Sykes is the first chief equity and inclusion officer for the Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI) and, as such, leads the development and implementation of ABI’s comprehensive equity and inclusion vision, strategy and action plan. As a member of the executive team, Sykes leads an organization-wide effort to operationalize ABI’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, and to implement strategies that stabilize communities, increase housing affordability, spur job creation and ensure economic opportunity.

Sykes was previously director of racial equity and inclusion at the Annie E. Casey Foundation where she led the organization’s equity and inclusion strategies and invested resources to identify, implement and promote the most effective approaches to increase equitable opportunities and outcomes for children, families and communities of color. Sykes’ 20 plus years of experience spans the areas of racial equity and inclusion, community and economic development, strategic leadership, nonprofit capacity building and change management.

Sykes also serves on the board of directors for the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative.

Sykes is a certified professional diversity coach and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Baltimore, and a Certificate in Organizational Consulting and Change Leadership from Georgetown University.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Urrutia formerly served as the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation director from June 2008 to July 2019 where his municipal government career spanned more than 23 years including positions as an interim assistant city manager and interim director for Animal Care Services, as well as assistant director for solid waste management and, prior to that, in the department of human services.

Urrutia holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Trinity University and is a member of the International Hispanic Network, and Leadership San Antonio Class 37.

Monica Hobbs Vinluan joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in 2015 as a senior program officer. She has been a passionate, professional advocate for health promotion and a distinguished government relations professional on a variety of health and well-being issues for two decades. Through her work at the foundation, Vinluan strives to ensure that all children in the United States have a healthy start. She views her role as “bringing new strategies and approaches to helping make sure all children get the nutritious foods and drinks they need to learn, grow and thrive.”

Previously, Vinluan served as director of the Healthier Communities Initiatives for the YMCA of the USA, which catalyzed community- and state-level leadership teams to put in place strategies and policies that enabled people to make healthy choices. The Healthier Communities Initiatives — funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, RWJF and a host of other funders — created nearly 250 community teams and enacted 39,000 policy changes in advocating for physical activity, healthy eating and health equity policy strategies.

Vinluan’s experience also includes serving as a senior policy associate with the National Recreation and Park Association. She has worked with the National Women’s Law Center, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the National Association of Child Advocates and in the office of former U.S. Senator Charles Robb of Virginia.

Vinluan earned her Juris Doctorate at the American University Washington College of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in political science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). She was the recipient of the Sandra P. Grasso Scholarship for her commitment to advancing social justice and feminism, and also was honored for her work in opening the Women’s Center at Virginia Tech.

Born in Virginia, Vinluan currently resides there with her husband and two children. She enjoys “just about any out-of-doors activities,” including hiking, camping and attending her children’s numerous sports activities.

Dr. Philip Wu, a retired pediatric obesity specialist from Kaiser Permanente Northwest Region, has been a pediatrician with Kaiser since 1997. His special interests include obesity prevention in children and promoting healthy living for families. He is currently working on broadening the scope of healthcare to include collaboration with community organizations/businesses in addressing healthcare disparities.

Dr. Wu serves on several community boards, including the Northwest Health Foundation, Oregon Oral Health Coalition, Outside In, The Intertwine Alliance and Oregon Environmental Council. He has an interest in transportation as a “social determinant” and has participated on the transportation committee of the Westside Economic Alliance, the Washington County Transportation Futures Study project and Oregon Department of Transportation’s Transportation Options Policy Advisory Committee. He recently concluded two years of service on Metro’s Equity Strategy Advisory Committee.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and completed his residency at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. Dr. Wu and his partner enjoy walking, hiking and simply being in nature.

Candice L. Carnage joined NRPA in September 2022 as Chief Operating and Financial Officer. Previously she worked at The Bronx Defenders, leveraging her love for numbers and problem solving into the Chief Operating Officer role for the $50 million legal organization that redefined public defense and pioneered the holistic defense model. She is a versatile, high-energy executive with more than 25 years nonprofit experience, who leads organizations through change and challenge to support their mission including the Innocence Project, Ms. Foundation for Women, and Amnesty International, USA. Her additional background with Deloitte and Touché and Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment after graduating from Columbia Business School solidify her background as a music lover who is also an accountant. She is thrilled to take on the new role of Chief Operating and  Financial Officer at NRPA.

Clarissa García joined NRPA in January 2023 in the role of Chief Communications and Engagement Officer. She comes to the organization from the American Heart Association (AHA) where she spent 18 years in a variety of roles. Most recently Clarissa led patient awareness and education campaigns overseeing the marketing and communications strategy, in addition to overall program development. These efforts resulted in improved diagnosis and treatment for patients and their families. In her early years at AHA, Clarissa led the organization’s national grassroots advocacy program building campaigns that led to the successful passage of federal legislation benefitting heart and stroke patients. Clarissa lives in the Memphis, Tennessee, area with her husband, two kids and their golden retriever.

Autumn Saxton-Ross, PhD, a DC resident and mom of two, will join the National Recreation and Park Association in September as Vice President of Education & Chief Equity Officer, after having served as Mid-Atlantic Regional Director and Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Lead for NatureBridge. In that role she oversaw programs at Prince William Forest and Shenandoah National Parks in Virginia. NatureBridge is the largest residential environmental education partner of the National Park Service, and its mission is to connect young people to the wonder and science of the natural world, igniting self-discovery, and inspiring stewardship of the planet. Through its overnight, hands on programs, NatureBridge connects children to themselves and others.

In her previous position as the Program Director for Place-based Initiatives at the National Collaborative for Health Equity, she worked to encourage the use of policy and environmental change as a solution to health inequities, focusing on communities of color. She managed the Kellogg funded PLACE MATTERS initiative – a national learning laboratory that builds the capacity of local leaders to identify and address the social, economic, and environmental conditions that shape health, opportunities and resources and promotes innovative strategies to address those conditions in order to create a national health equity movement.

Previously, she has been the Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity (PANO) Specialist for the DC Department of Health and the Assistant Director for Health in Parks for Washington Parks & People. In those positions, she focused on environmental and policy approaches to healthy eating and active living and promoting the natural connection between parks, recreation and health. Prior to receiving her doctorate, she was the Health and Wellness Coordinator for both Montgomery County and DC Recreation departments, taught Women’s Health for Howard University and was an Elementary Physical Education and Health teacher for DC Public Schools.

With degrees in sociology, health education, and exercise science, her research, academic and professional interests are on the social and physical environment and their influences on physical activity, opportunity and resources, specifically in Black and urban populations, and the health benefits of parks and green spaces. Her life’s work is improving the health of communities through engagement, activity, education, exposure and opportunity, truly believing that a healthy life is lived better outdoors.

Julie Boland joined NRPA in 2008 and serves as the Vice President of Membership and Certification.  In this role, Boland develops and oversees the association’s membership and certification initiatives. She received her Bachelors of Science in Forestry from Purdue University and has been working in the field of parks and recreation since 2000. Prior to her time with NRPA, she served as the Parks Director for the City of Crown Point, Indiana. She is a Certified Park and Recreation Executive (CPRE) from the National Recreation and Park Association and a Certified Association Executive (CAE) from the American Society of Association Executives.

Kellie May joined NRPA in 2010 and serves as the Vice President of Programs and Partnerships. In her role, May oversees the strategic direction of NRPA’s philanthropic programs and initiatives, including working to establish new relationships with partners and donors. Previously, she served as NRPA’s Director of Health and Wellness and has a demonstrated background in helping local park and recreation agencies implement strategies to improve healthy eating and increase physical activity.

Prior to joining NRPA, May worked at SHAPE America, previously the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance where she worked to increase physical activity for young children. She has more than ten years of experience managing health and physical activity programs and has a Master’s degree from George Washington University.

Kevin A. Roth serves as NRPA's Vice President of Research, Evaluation & Technology. Roth leads the research team in its mission to create valuable data and metrics that enhance park and recreation agency performance and make the case for increased and more stable agency funding. He guides the development of innovative in-person and online educational offerings for professionals that advance parks and recreation in their communities. He also oversees the team delivering IT and web services to the association.

Roth has served in research and leadership functions in the nonprofit association space for more than two decades, including overseeing both research and IT at the Association for Financial Professionals for 13 years and conducting survey research at the National Association of Realtors for four years. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from George Washington University and a BA in Economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.