Barbara Heller

Senior Consultant, BerryDunn

Barbara Heller is a Senior Consultant/Practice Lead for Parks and Recreation with BerryDunn, starting in June 2019.  Previously she was President of Heller and Heller Consulting, LLC, a management consulting firm specializing in state and local government, primarily in the parks and recreation industry.  Her areas of specialty include: strategic planning, master planning, service quality assessments, operational/organizational reviews, leadership development, facilitation of public input processes, and staff training with clients all over the United States. 

She has additional consulting experience with Sasaki Associates and PROS Consulting and has been performing client focused consulting engagements for 13 years. 

Previous to consulting experience, Barbara spent over 30 years working at the local government level with a variety of park systems.   She was the Executive Director of the Naperville Park District and Elk Grove, Park District, both in Illinois. Heller has held other positions with municipal government organizations in Arlington, TX, Montgomery County, MD and Prince William County, VA.  

Her education background includes a master’s degree in public administration from the American University in Washington, D.C. and a bachelor’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University.  

She has presented at state and national conferences for the last 25 years.

Michael Kirschman

Director

Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation

For the past 25 years, Michael Kirschman has presented at countless state and national park and recreation conferences. He has provided instruction for seven years at Supervisors Management School, taught two years at Green School, and currently serves as an instructor for Directors School.

Kelly Moffett

Senior Education Manager

National Recreation and Park Association

Kelly Moffett is the Senior Education Manager at the National Recreation and Park Association. She currently manages the educational programming for NRPA Annual Conference as well as partner schools, including NRPA Directors School. Previously, Kelly worked at the Global Business Travel Association at which her role progressed over 5+ years from Education Coordinator to Manager of Professional Development, and finally Manager of Global Event Operations. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from James Madison University with a major in communication studies and a minor in human resource development.

Jane Miller

CEO and Founder

Jayne Miller Consulting

Jayne Miller is the CEO and founder of Jayne Miller Consulting where she brings 35+ years of experience leading and managing parks and recreation agencies along with her dedicated work addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in the field over the past 20 years. 

She has served as Chair of World Urban Parks since September 2018 and has been a board member since the inception of World Urban Parks in 2015.  She has helped lead the organization’s growth with fellow board members and the organization’s CEO and Secretariat.

From February 2018 – October 2020, Jayne served as President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (PPC), the non-profit partner to the City of Pittsburgh. During 2018 and 2019, Jayne lead the Conservancy’s work on the Restoring Pittsburgh Parks Initiative including the development of The Parks Plan, a long-term equitable investment strategy for the Pittsburgh Parks System, and the successful parks referendum on the November 2019 ballot, dedicating an additional $10M a year to Pittsburgh Parks for implementing The Parks Plan.  

Prior to her time in Pittsburgh, Jayne served as the Superintendent of the nationally renowned and CAPRA accredited Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), November 2010 – February 2018. Under Jayne’s leadership the MPRB was recognized by the Trust for Public Land as the #1 Park System six years running, 2013-2018, and as a National Gold Medal Award Finalist three years, 2016-2018.  Jayne successfully led the organization’s efforts in developing and implementing equitable investment strategies for all MPRB capital & rehabilitation projects, recreation center funding, and an organization-wide Racial Equity Action Plan to address racial and economic equity needs across the park system.  In 2015 and 2016 Jayne championed and led the organization’s efforts developing and implementing the 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan, 20-year equitable re-investment plan for the park system’s 160 neighborhood parks, and securing $11M annually for 20 years to implement the 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan. 

Under Jayne’s leadership, the PPC and the MPRB have been recognized for their work on social equity.  The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is the recipient of the National Recreation and Park Association’s 2020 Innovation in Social Equity Award and the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society’s 2020 Award of Excellence for the Restoring Pittsburgh Parks Initiative. The MPRB received the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association’s 2017 Award of Excellence for the 20-Year Neighborhood Park Plan.

Jayne also serves on the board of City Parks Alliance, is a board member and faculty with the Indiana University Executive Development Program, and is Chair of World Urban Parks.  She also is a CAPRA Commissioner, Director of the Park Foundation School, and an American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration Fellow.   

​Jennifer G. Schleining

CAPRA Accreditation Manager, National Recreation and Park Association

National Recreation and Park Association

Jennifer G. Schleining, CAPRA Accreditation Manager for the National Recreation and Park Association, oversees the strategic direction and day to day operations for the CAPRA Accreditation Program including management of the accreditation process for agencies and related educational programming.  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History with a minor in Classical Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Master of Arts degree in Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture from Bard College, Center for Curatorial Studies and a Certificate in Meeting and Event Planning from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Continuing Education Department. Prior to NRPA Jennifer served for 5 years as a Credentialing Services Specialist for the American Society of Appraisers.  Prior to that she held various fundraising and development positions for organizations including The Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Give a Note Foundation, Tudor Place Historic Home and Garden and The Madeira School. 

Karen L. Hesser, CPRP

Chief of Operations

Five Rivers MetroParks, Dayton, Ohio

A Certified Park and Recreation Professional with more than 30 years of parks and recreation experience in both county and municipal organizations. Focused on engaging individuals, teams, and organizations to envision, strategize, and realize their full potential toward the effectiveness, efficiency, and success of the organization through coaching, mentoring, delegation, and empowering to achieve consistently high-quality work and personal accountability. Proven experience in personnel supervision and management, budgeting, planning, policy development, partnerships, creating park operation plans, strategic reorganizations of personnel, and program development. I have developed successful partnerships with community groups, requests for proposals, leases, employee job descriptions, and special-use agreements. My commitment to the parks and recreation community through positions at the local, state, regional, and national levels allows me to engage with professionals and citizens to strengthen the resources available to staff and the department. Combining executive leadership experience gained in supervisory positions, I offer an insightful, practical, and results-oriented approach to addressing complex organizational challenges.

Gérald R. Checco

Born in Bangui, Central African Republic into a French / Tunisian family, Gérald spent his youth between France and the lesser Antilles on the island of Guadeloupe.  A gifted mathematician, he obtained a Bachelor of Mathematics degree just one year after graduating from high school. He then studied two majors in tandem: Education at the Sorbonne and Engineering and Public Administration at the School of Public Works (école Speciale des Travaux Publics) in Paris, France.

He married American artist Jan Brown Checco in 1981 and they had two daughters Amanda and Emilie, and they now have 3 grandsons.  Having completed his military duties as a lieutenant in the French artillery, Gérald established himself professionally as a consulting engineer on projects commissioned by family members of the King of Saudi Arabia, for whom he designed palaces, mosques and gardens. 

In 1984, the young Checco family moved to Cincinnati, where they have resided ever since. An American diploma would now be essential for engineering practice, so Gérald enrolled at the University of Cincinnati where he obtained a Masters Degree in Structural Engineering in just 9 months. Certified as a Professional Engineer (P.E.) in Ohio and neighboring states, he was employed as Project Manager for an architectural design firm.  In 1991, Gérald was hired by the City of Cincinnati’s Park Board, and became Superintendent in1999.  A recognized expert in parks management, he has taught parks administrators throughout the nation in a North Carolina State University course (PRMMS), and has also lectured internationally on parks-related topics in Japan, France, Germany, Ukraine and China. 

In 2013 Gérald was asked by Cincinnati’s City Manager to become the Director of Public Works, a department that was in leadership crisis with lackluster performance. With improvements completed, in 2015 the Mayor asked him to become the Director of the Metropolitan Sewer District, a department facing multiple audits due to questionable managerial practices and looming Consent Decree deadlines.  These last two appointments earned him the nickname “Cincinnati’s Fixer” for his ability to quickly reorganize troubled departments, improving performance and establishing ethical behaviors. 

After retiring from City service in 2018, Gérald went on the 500-mile hike of his dreams - the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain, and then wrote a reflective, philosophical book - “The Tao of My Camino.”  He then translated from the original French to English, a play by Ivorian author Maurice Bandaman.  Gérald is now a Director on the Boards of the Mill Creek Valley Conservancy District, the Urban Forestry Advisory Board, the Charter Committee of Greater Cincinnati, Green Umbrella, the Sawyer Point Board of Visitors, and serves as the Treasurer of the community council where he resides.  He also works as a consultant for government efficiency and effectiveness.  He and Jan reside in their solar and geothermal-powered home in Clifton.

During the COVID19 crisis Gérald was part of a team of volunteers that organized a community response to the pandemic.  This effort included a fund raising effort aimed at providing free meals for Health Care workers, a beautification/ spring cleaning effort throughout his neighborhood, and the creation of new outdoor “food courts” to help restaurants.

John McGovern

Partner, Principal in Charge

The WT Group, LLC Accessibility Practice

McGovern has spoken about access and inclusion at training events in 43 states. He is recognized nationally as the leading expert on the application of the ADA to public parks and recreation. McGovern is the President of Recreation Accessibility Consultants LLC (RAC), established in 2008. RAC is one of the companies under the umbrella of W-T Engineering, one of the premier engineering firms in Illinois. RAC advises local parks and recreation agencies, cities, counties, states, and private entities regarding compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act with regard to existing buildings and sites, new buildings and sites, and inclusive recreation support.

Julie Parascondola

Director of Parks, Recreation and Human Services | City of Kent, Washington

Julie is the Director of Parks, Recreation and Human Services for the City of Kent, Washington. Prior to that, she spent 20 years in the Department of Parks and Natural Resources at Metro Parks Tacoma, Washington. Julie has been actively involved with CAPRA since 2011. She spent six years on the CAPRA Commission and has either mentored agencies, been a visitor, a visit chair, Commission lead or second in over 49 agency accreditations, helped re-write the 2014 CAPRA standards and has held several training sessions on accreditation. In 2014, Julie lead Metro Parks Tacoma through their first national accreditation with 100% of standards met and is now preparing her current agency through the process – giving her a unique external and internal perspective on the accreditation process. Julie has also completed NRPA’s Marketing and Revenue School, Executive Development School and Director’s School and is a Certified Park and Recreation Professional and Executive. She has a degree in Public Administration from North Carolina State University.

​Jennifer G. Schleining

CAPRA Accreditation Manager, National Recreation and Park Association

National Recreation and Park Association

Jennifer G. Schleining, CAPRA Accreditation Manager for the National Recreation and Park Association, oversees the strategic direction and day to day operations for the CAPRA Accreditation Program including management of the accreditation process for agencies and related educational programming.  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History with a minor in Classical Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Master of Arts degree in Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture from Bard College, Center for Curatorial Studies and a Certificate in Meeting and Event Planning from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Continuing Education Department. Prior to NRPA Jennifer served for 5 years as a Credentialing Services Specialist for the American Society of Appraisers.  Prior to that she held various fundraising and development positions for organizations including The Corcoran Gallery of Art, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Give a Note Foundation, Tudor Place Historic Home and Garden and The Madeira School. 

Johnny Campbell

CEO, The Transition Man

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