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Each year, during the NRPA Annual Conference, NRPA officially welcomes its incoming class of board members. The NRPA Board of Directors reflects our membership, which includes professional and advocate leaders in the park and recreation movement; park and recreation agencies and organizations representing the public, private, voluntary, commercial and industrial sectors; firms supplying park and recreation products and services; and individuals and civic groups interested in the park, recreation, conservation, health and equity fields. This year, we welcome five new members to the 2024-2025 NRPA Board of Directors.

Christian Gabriel, FASLA, PLA
Founder and Creative Director, PVBLIC NATURE PROJECTS LLC
Washington, D.C.

Both a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a distinguished alumnus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Christian Gabriel brings 20 years of global expertise as an award-winning designer and major public builder.

Gabriel is trained in design, arts, ecology and anthropology; his built work, design research and enacted public policy bridge future parks, civic infrastructure, urban ecology and nature-based systems. Delivering work under challenging jurisdictional, operational, economic, physical and political conditions, Gabriel has completed dozens of celebrated projects. Gabriel has authored and implemented design policy, designed innovative capital projects, and developed inventive approaches to re-envisioning and managing large real estate portfolios and park systems.

Gabriel has served as the first national design director for landscape architecture at the United States General Services Administration, as a senior designer at both the New York City design studios of Ken Smith and Thomas Balsley, and as the deputy director of a major urban parks agency. Gabriel has played a leading role in shaping progressive federal design policies and in developing both the ‘National Disaster Resilience’ and the ‘Rebuild By Design’ competitions for the United States federal government. In addition to directing PVBLIC NATURE PROJECTS, Gabriel is a founding board member of the Ian McHarg Center for Ecology and Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gabriel has made the creation of immersive environments, functional excellence, climate responsiveness and environmental performance a cornerstone of his career.

Stephanie Milewski, RLA, ASLA
Senior Project Manager, Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc.
Scranton, Pennsylvania

Stephanie Milewski’s career has focused on outdoor recreation — designing spaces for people to enjoy the outdoors, reconnect to nature and improve their quality of life. Milewski has been engaged in landscape architecture starting with her earliest professional experience through an internship with Longwood Gardens after graduating with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Penn State University. Since then, her 26-year career has spanned both the public and private sector. She spent nearly eight years as the trail manager and environmental program officer for the Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area before returning to consulting. Milewski is currently a senior project manager at Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG), an employee-owned, full-service civil engineering firm that assists with the planning, design and management of communities that, like Milewski, is driven by a “people first” strategy for improving spaces.

Milewski’s passion for creating awareness of the outdoors, expanding and improving trails, and promoting the importance of bicycling/pedestrian accessibility is evident in her service to several organizations. She proudly serves as the president of the Pennsylvania-Delaware Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects; a member of the Lackawanna Luzerne MPO Transportation Advisory Committee; as former chair and current planning committee member of the NEPA Trails Forum; as past board of directors’ vice president for the North Pocono Trails Association; and as a founding member and past board member with the Anthracite Bicycling Coalition.

Shonnda Smith, MBA
Executive Director, Public Works
Mobile, Alabama

Shonnda Smith is the executive director of public works for City of Mobile, Alabama. Smith is responsible for ensuring smooth operational delivery of department initiatives spanning the directorate, which includes accreditation and compliance, events, parks and recreation, public services, and strategic initiatives.

Prior to this role, Smith served as deputy executive director of public works after making her debut in the parks and recreation department as its director in 2019. She quickly developed a reputation for being a visionary and an agent of change. Through her transformational leadership, Smith has revamped programming and policies, while promoting employee empowerment through professional development.

Smith serves on the Board of the Mobile Arts Council, is vice-chair of the Bishop State College Foundation, and holds seats on NRPA’s Program Committee and Parks & Recreation magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board.

Hashim Taylor, CPRP
Director, Parks and Recreation
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Hashim Taylor assumed the role of director of parks and recreation for City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in January 2022. Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, Taylor brings more than a decade of comprehensive experience in parks and recreation, with a distinguished career encompassing various professional and managerial positions in major Virginia cities.

As director, Taylor is responsible for overseeing all aspects of park and recreation operations, including parks, recreation, golf, forestry and the ReLeaf Cedar Rapids plan. His tenure has been marked by a commitment to expanding programming for diverse populations, enhancing operational efficiency in facilities, and integrating the city’s “culture of commitment” into the parks and recreation strategic plan.

Taylor has been instrumental in several key initiatives, such as the Greenway Parks Plan update, the development of the Westside Library Park Project, the Community Gardens in Parks plan, and the Dual-Use Intergenerational Feasibility Study. Under his leadership, Cedar Rapids has seen the addition of several new facilities.

Taylor holds a Bachelor of Science in parks, recreation and tourism from Old Dominion University and a Master of Business Administration from Regent University. He is a Certified Park and Recreation Professional and has served as treasurer for the Virginia Recreation and Park Society’s northern service area. His professional development includes graduating from the National Association of Counties High-Performance Leadership Academy and completing the two-year NRPA Directors School. In 2022, Taylor was honored as a “30 Under 30” recipient by NRPA.

Linden Weiswerda
Data Insights Analyst, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Linden Weiswerda is a data insights analyst with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. His work in local park operations and programming brings a data-informed approach to projects focused on sustainability, equity and recreation. He is most proud of having developed a framework that uses community data to equitably allocate more than $10 million in annual capital improvement program funds. He also has led efforts to analyze and then reduce the agency’s carbon footprint by 37 percent in just five years.

Weiswerda is a LEED Green Associate and has previously worked at the Trust for Public Land and the Minnesota Department of Health’s Climate and Health Program. He also served as chair of the Open Space and Recreation Commission for City of Golden Valley, Minnesota.

Weiswerda holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He currently is completing an advanced certificate in applied urban science and informatics from New York University.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Weiswerda’s passion for soccer, both as a lifelong player and youth coach, reflects his broader commitment to teamwork and to providing high-quality recreation experiences for all. He enjoys park maps almost as much as his five-year-old daughter and knows almost as much about park wildlife as his six-year-old son; soon he will be welcoming a third child with his partner, Hannah, a teacher in Hopkins Public Schools.