Don’t Miss Coffee Talks at the 2021 NRPA Annual Conference — Bonus Episode

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!