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Highlights from the largest national gathering of park and recreation professionals

Imagine more than 8,000 park and recreation professionals, advocates and enthusiasts coming together to play, network, learn and celebrate — what could be better? This became a reality this October 8-10 in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. Here are just some of the highlights from the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference.

General Sessions

At the Opening General Session, Justin Cutler, City of Atlanta commissioner of parks and recreation, welcomed attendees and opened with a land acknowledgement. He detailed the city’s commitment to equity before welcoming City of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to the stage. Dickens highlighted local parks and celebrated Atlanta’s standing as the 25th city on Trust for Public Land’s annual ParkScore index. Next, NRPA President and CEO Kristine Stratton and Jesús Aguirre, chair of the NRPA Board of Directors, discussed their park and recreation experiences and how they shape their work to advance the field. Together, they introduced the NRPA Strategic Plan 2025-29 and its four goal areas: systems change, leadership, durable funding and organizational excellence. Through the work outlined in the plan, NRPA will catalyze the power of parks and recreation to deliver transformative community and environmental benefits and build inclusive, climate-resilient, thriving communities.

Dan Buettner, explorer, National Geographic Fellow, award-winning journalist and producer, Netflix host, and New York Times bestselling author, delivered the keynote. Buettner discovered five blue zones hotspots — places where residents live the longest, healthiest lives. Through his work, Buettner sought to “reverse engineer longevity” alongside his team. Among the blue zones, which include Sardinia (Italy), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Okinawa (Japan), Loma Linda (California – United States), and Ikaria (Greece), the team observed many of the same qualities related to movement, diet, connection and outlook. Buettner encouraged park and recreation professionals to reframe how they think about health and longevity as they work to advance holistic well-being in their own communities. As an example of how blue zones encourage strong social bonds and prevent loneliness and social isolation, he explained how in Okinawa, children are grouped with four peers in a “moai.” The children form close friendships and stay together throughout their lives. Buettner shared similar real-life examples to illustrate how blue zones residents attain longevity by living in environments that encourage movement naturally, eating healthy legume- and grain-dense diets, cultivating strong social connections, and maintaining positive outlooks on life.

Day 2 General Session

Wednesday’s Day 2 General Session began with Stratton welcoming attendees and introducing the opening speaker and subsequent panel moderator, Manal Jane Aboelata. Aboelata is the managing director for California Endowment and emphasized the importance of the seven dimensions of well-being before introducing the rest of the panelists.

Vivek Shandas, a professor at Portland State University, spoke on the important research and development projects he’s been a part of that focus on bringing nature to urban spaces and the life-changing outcomes that it has for those urban populations.

Following Shandas, the chief deputy of the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, Alina Bokde, spoke about three new parks that Los Angeles County proudly had debuted in 2024, which resulted in nearly 40 acres of new urban parkland in the highest need communities. Bokde highlighted the decades of advocacy that led to these green spaces that will have an impact for generations to come. She also told the story of three “Our SPOT Teen Centers” that were created during the height of the pandemic and have led to wonderful outcomes for teens in some of the most high-risk parts of the county.

Next on stage was Akiima Price, founder of Friends of Anacostia Park. Price advocated passionately for all the tangible and intangible benefits that parks have on every level of health and spoke about the importance of actually showing up for the people in the communities you are trying to serve and make in-roads with. The guiding principles of Friends of Anacostia Park — respect, safety, trust, choice, empowerment and partnership — all lead to a terrific base on which to build meaningful park and recreation work.

The panel discussion that followed delved even deeper into all of the speakers’ main focuses, including Los Angeles County’s groundbreaking Lifeguard Ready Training program.

Opening Reception

It’s not often that you find yourself in the largest aquarium in the United States, sipping a beverage while Chappell Roan plays from a DJ booth, serenading guests and whale sharks alike — but this was indeed the scene at the opening reception, sponsored by GameTime, for the 2024 NRPA Annual Conference. Attendees filed into Georgia Aquarium on Tuesday night and were treated to amazing aquatic sights, ranging from the aforementioned whale sharks to manta rays and hammerhead sharks. In the ballroom, guests were treated to a buffet, live music and dancing, while a beluga whale did flips in a tank visible from the dance floor.

Exhibit Hall

On Tuesday and Wednesday, attendees explored the exhibit hall to learn about new park and recreation technologies and products, view innovative play and aquatics equipment, speak to subject matter experts, find solutions to challenges facing their agencies, and greet furry four-legged friends from Paws 4 Life, sponsored by BarkPark. With more than 500 exhibitors in attendance, attendees accessed a wealth of information, innovation and expertise. Door prizes and cash giveaways, sponsored by Burke and Toro, delighted conference goers, as well as the popular EXPOdition Scavenger Hunt, sponsored by Burke. At the Sports Demonstration Zone, attendees sampled sports experiences from pickleball to adaptive sports, quickball and more. The NRPA Member Booth drew attendees who wanted to learn more about NRPA, its programs and the new strategic plan; visit with staff and connect with other NRPA members; snap a photo for the photo mosaic; meet a member of the Conference Program Committee; and pick up a copy of Parks & Recreation magazine, along with NRPA stickers, t-shirts and friendship bracelets to remember their time at the conference.

Education

This year, the conference offered a variety of education session formats — including one-hour education sessions, 20-minute speed sessions and various research talks — with more than 40 topics to choose from, including accessibility, arts and culture, data and evaluation, funding, leadership, partnerships, programming, technology and much more. Many sessions fell within NRPA’s Three Pillars:

Health and Well-Being

The session, “Where to Begin? Introducing Programmatic Changes to Include Participants With Disabilities,” invited participants to consider how they could increase the accessibility of their programs. Senior Education Manager Cayla Hammaker, Competition Manager Jessica Cloy and Programs Director Julia Ray from Move United, alongside April Wolfe, therapeutic recreation specialist from City of Reno, Nevada, shared strategies park and recreation professionals can use to make parks and recreation more accessible, from program modifications to adaptive equipment, providing educational resources as guidance. The speakers emphasized the importance of getting started using available resources to include more community members.

Jo Burns presented the session, “Loneliness Is an Epidemic? How Parks and Recreation Can Bring Social Connectedness to Communities,” during which she discussed the spread and impacts of loneliness and shared how park and recreation professionals can create connections within their communities. She offered “six pillars for action” to create social connection, including: strengthen social infrastructure, enact pro-connection public policies, mobilize the health sector, reform digital environments, deepen our knowledge and cultivate a culture of connection.

Equity

Tuesday’s session, “Proven Best Practices: Implementing Racquet and Paddle Sports Throughout Diverse Community Settings,” featured a lively Jodie Adams, former NRPA president, introducing several directors of park and recreation departments across the country of varying sizes. Chris Bass, AP Diaz, Adrienne Harris-Moore and Shonnda Smith all spoke to their ample experiences implementing racquet sports in their communities while highlighting the different needs of the tennis and pickleball communities. The group also spoke strongly in support of the USTA Park Agency Tennis Assessment Tool, which aims to produce personalized recommendations and actionable deliverables for park agencies to improve the delivery of tennis in their community.

Environmental Resilience

During the session, “Building Environmental Sustainability Through Your Entire Park Staff: Beyond the Usual Characters,” speakers Brett Johnson, conservation manager for Dallas Park and Recreation, and Frances McGee, senior environmental coordinator for Dallas Park and Recreation, explored the question, “Who makes a park department sustainable?” The resounding answer from attendees: “Everyone.” The speakers affirmed the audience’s answer and discussed how creating a culture of sustainability requires breaking down silos and garnering input from many positions and perspectives. The session also highlighted the department’s Eco Warriors program, which brings together a team of professionals from across department divisions to advance environmental sustainability within all facets of the department.

Best of the Best

On Wednesday, October 9, guests gathered and emcee Aguirre — along with NRPA Awards and Scholarship Committee Chair Jeanette Aiello, CPRE; National Certification Board Chair Eric López, CPRE; and Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) Chair Chris Bass, CPRP — took to the stage to honor this year’s scholarship and fellowship recipients, CPRP- and CPRE-certified professionals, and newly CAPRA-accredited and reaccredited park and recreation agencies, as well as the following award winners:

Spotlight Awards

• Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Award for Excellence in Recreation and Park Research – Dr. Clement Lau, senior analyst, Los Angeles County Chief Sustainability Office
• Robert M. Artz Advocate Award – Mary H. Behling, former chairperson, Cambridge (Wisconsin) Community Activities Program
• Robert W. Crawford Young Professional Award – Javier Martinez, CPRP; manager of fitness and aquatics, Waukegan (Illinois) Park District
• Dirk Richwine Professional Mentoring Award – Ryan Davis, CPRE; director of parks and recreation, City of Miamisburg (Ohio)
• National Distinguished Professional Award – Michael McCarty, CPRP; executive director, Glenview (Illinois) Park District

Innovation Awards

• Innovation in Conservation Award – Ford Fair Lane Estate Fishway, Wayne County (Michigan) Parks
• Innovation in Equity Award – Signs of Belonging, Ramsey County (Minnesota) Parks and Recreation
• Innovation in Health Award – SwimSmart Initiative, Waukegan (Illinois) Park District
• Innovation in Park Design Award – Glass City Metropark, Metroparks Toledo (Ohio)
• Best in Innovation – Glass City Metropark, Metroparks Toledo (Ohio)

Not ready to stop celebrating these inspirational individuals and agencies? You can watch a live stream of the 2024 Best of the Best ceremony here.

2024 Newly-Accredited CAPRA Agencies

Congratulations to this year’s newly-accredited CAPRA Agencies:

• Baltimore County Recreation and Parks, Maryland
• City of Brentwood Parks and Recreation, Missouri
• City of Fort Worth Park and Recreation Department, Texas
• City of Rock Hill Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department, South Carolina
• University Park Parks and Recreation, Texas
• El Cajon Parks and Recreation Department, California
• Incorporated County of Los Alamos, New Mexico
• Memphis Parks, Tennessee
• Village of Pinecrest Parks and Recreation, Florida
• Parish of Caddo Parks and Recreation Department, Louisiana
• USAG Rheinland-Pfalz Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, Germany

Congratulations to this year’s reaccredited CAPRA Agencies:

• Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation, Indiana
• Carrollton Parks and Recreation Department, Georgia
• Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission, South Carolina
• Alexandria Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities, Virginia
• Allen Parks and Recreation Department, Texas
• Arlington Parks and Recreation Department, Texas
• City of Lake Mary Parks and Recreation, Florida
• City of North Port Parks and Recreation, Florida
• Roseville Parks and Recreation, Minnesota
• Scottsdale Parks and Recreation, Arizona
• City of Surprise Parks and Recreation Department, Arizona
• Woodstock Parks and Recreation, Georgia
• Fort Sill DMWR, CRD, Oklahoma
• Greenville County Parks, Recreation and Tourism, South Carolina
• Henrico County Division of Recreation and Parks, Virginia
• Houston Parks and Recreation Department, Texas
• Indy Parks and Recreation, Indiana
• Johnson County Park and Recreation District, Kansas
• Largo Recreation Parks and Arts Department, Florida
• Lee County Parks and Recreation, Florida
• Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, North Carolina
• Metro Parks Tacoma, Washington
• Monmouth County Park System, New Jersey
• Mount Pleasant Recreation Department, South Carolina
• Plano Parks and Recreation Department, Texas
• Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District, California
• City of Round Rock Parks and Recreation, Texas
• Seminole County Parks and Recreation, Florida
• South Suburban Park and Recreation District, Colorado
• Village of Wellington Parks and Recreation, Florida
• City of Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation, Virginia
• Westchester County Parks, Recreation and Conservation, New York

We hope these 2024 NRPA Annual Conference highlights help you to bring home and share the inspiration and excitement from this year’s event. We look forward to seeing you in Orlando, September 16-18, for the 2025 NRPA Annual Conference!

Chris Brummett is Production Coordinator at NRPA. Lindsay Collins is Managing Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine. Alexandra Klein is Associate Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine.