On a Mission to Make Aquatics More Equitable — Episode 118

We are just about a month away from the 2022 NRPA Annual
Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, and on today’s episode of Open
Space Radio, I’m thrilled to be joined by one of this year’s
recipients of the NRPA Young Professional Fellowship.


The Young Professional Fellowship provides an opportunity to
explore the operation of NRPA and its governing bodies at the
NRPA Annual Conference. Participants meet with mentors, are
recognized at the Best of the Best ceremony and more. A primary
focus of the program is to inspire future participation and
leadership in NRPA and to develop professional contacts in the
field of parks and recreation.


Today’s guest is also someone I have been meaning to invite to
the show for a while now – Kate Connell.


Kate is a Certified Park and Recreation Professional, and the
Aquatics Program Supervisor for Iowa City Parks & Recreation.
She is an advocate for equity in recreational water use and has
assisted in providing free swimming lessons, safety education and
accessible pool events. She leads training and conversations on
equitable aquatics, staff training and humanness through
leadership – and she does a whole lot of other cool things that
we discuss on today’s episode.


Tune in to the full episode below to learn more about Kate and
how she’s helping to build more inclusive, equitable communities
through aquatics. You’ll also learn:


How the Equitable Aquatics community that Kate created is
providing connection, training, guidance and resources for
aquatics professionals

How Kate felt when she was notified about receiving NRPA’s
Young Professional Fellowship and what she is looking forward to
at the 2022 NRPA Annual Conference

Words of wisdom for first-time conference attendees and
presenters

What drives Kate to continue pushing so that everyone can
experience the power of aquatics and parks and recreation

The three Ps of inclusive aquatics: Personnel, Programming
and Policies — and much more!



Related links:


Iowa City Parks and Recreation

Equitable Aquatics Facebook Group

Equitable Aquatics Facebook Page

Equitable Aquatics on Instagram