Autumn Saxton-Ross, PhD, developed a love of the outdoors first through her grandmother’s yard and then exploring city parks with her family in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.  Now a resident of Washington DC and mom of two, she is the VP for Education & Chief Equity Officer at the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA). 

She started her career as an elementary school Health and PE teacher in DC Public Schools and after receiving graduate degrees in Health Education and Sociology, has worked in various positions that placed her at the intersections of health, equity and the outdoors.  Most recently, as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director and Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Lead for NatureBridge, and prior to that she held positions as the Program Director for Place-based Initiatives at the National Collaborative for Health Equity, Program Specialist at DC Department of Health and (Health) Recreation Specialist at both Montgomery County and DC Departments of Recreation.

Autumn is a connector- actively seeking out ways to build bridges between seemingly disparate people, opportunities and ideas.  And if you really want to see a sparkle in her eye, start a conversation on all things Marvel, Octavia Butler or Star Trek: The Next Generation.  

Darlene Wolnik is the Training and Technical Assistance Director of Farmers Market Coalition. Since 2011, Darlene has consulted for dozens of projects on market design, operations, data collection, and analysis. She has authored numerous reports on market currency, food awareness, measurement and more. Before that, she served a decade as the Deputy Director of NGO Market Umbrella in New Orleans.

Kate Fitzgerald works on policy that links family farms with low-income consumers to achieve economic opportunity and better public health.  Based in Texas for 25 years, she now works in Washington, DC and concentrates on federal policy including SNAP produce incentive programs, connecting low-income shoppers with farmers’ markets, rural grocery store viability, and regional food supply chains.

Dr. Marby Barker is the grant administrator for the town of Vivian, Louisiana. Her primary work revolves around improving the quality of life for the citizens of Vivian and the surrounding areas through increasing access to health and wellness programs, as well as connecting citizens to available resources. 

Maureen Neumann is a Program Manager for the National Recreation and Park Association. As a part of the Health and Wellness team, she focuses on healthy out-of-school time programming and inclusive practices in parks and recreation. 

John N. McGovern (he/him/his) leads the Accessibility Practice at The WT Group, LLC.  His firm is the NRPA preferred provider of accessibility consulting.  A long-time member of NRPA, he worked in parks and recreation while earning his law degree.  Continuing his parks and recreation career, he then represented NRPA on the three federal advisory committees that created the parks and recreation content of the federal 2010 Standards for Accessible Design.  Since forming the Accessibility Practice in 2008, his firm has helped more than 440 counties, cities, states, and park districts meet the sometimes unclear requirements of the ADA.

Hayley Herzing is currently the Senior Manager of Membership for the National Recreation and Park Association. She has worked for NRPA for six years and previously worked at the National Community Pharmacists Association. Hayley received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications/Journalism from Shippensburg University. She enjoys spending time with her husband, son and dog.

Darlene Wolnik is the Training and Technical Assistance Director of Farmers Market Coalition. Since 2011, Darlene has consulted for dozens of projects on market design, operations, data collection, and analysis. She has authored numerous reports on market currency, food awareness, measurement and more. Before that, she served a decade as the Deputy Director of NGO Market Umbrella in New Orleans.

Kate Fitzgerald works on policy that links family farms with low-income consumers to achieve economic opportunity and better public health.  Based in Texas for 25 years, she now works in Washington, DC and concentrates on federal policy including SNAP produce incentive programs, connecting low-income shoppers with farmers’ markets, rural grocery store viability, and regional food supply chains.

Shelly Strasser is the Director for the West Allis-West Milwaukee Recreation and Community Services Department located in the Milwaukee area in Wisconsin.  Their community has been affected by the Heroin and Opioid Crisis and has taken an active role in the community and with department staff, to implement strategies of support.  

Maureen Neumann is a Program Manager for the National Recreation and Park Association. As a part of the Health and Wellness team, she focuses on healthy out-of-school time programming and inclusive practices in parks and recreation. 

Jason Lang is the Parks and Recreation Director for East Goshen Township, a rural, suburban community thirty miles outside Philadelphia. Under his leadership, the community’s perception of the department’s importance has grown considerably, culminating in being named the 2019 PRPS Agency of the Year and three-time NRPA Gold Medal Finalist community. He has professionally and personally been involved in public service and advocacy for over twenty years, serving in the U.S. Army including serving in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom alongside educational work in Political Science while an undergrad student at Penn State University.  Since 2018, his department has used SOPARC to quantify park statistics to stakeholders, with his parks annually savings local park users over $3M in associated health care savings annually. He is currently the PRPS Board Secretary, serves on its Awards and Health and Wellness Committees, and is co-chairing the 75th Anniversary PRPS Conference in 2022. 

Roslyn Johnson, CPRP was unanimously confirmed in March 2020 as the first female director for Baltimore County Maryland's Department of Recreation and Parks.  She is excited her career has come full circle and she is able to bring her expertise in the field and her innovative spirit back to the County where she was raised.  She was most recently the Deputy Director of Facility Operations for a six-time National Gold Medal winning Parks and Recreation agency in Prince George's County, MD.  In this role, she led innovative recreation programs that served the community.  She also put systems in place so that the department could successfully zero out their carbon footprint in 2018.  She had oversight of natural and historic resources, sports and arts programs and facilities, maintenance and development, and public affairs and marketing.

Roslyn has an extensive career in the field of parks and recreation. In the past 17 years, she has held Deputy Director and Associate Director positions in parks and recreation agencies in Richmond, VA; the District of Columbia; and Baltimore. Her background and experience include overseeing multi-million dollar budgets, leading a diverse workforce, managing programs and facilities, and representing the agency in community outreach with elected officials, residents, and communities. 

Roslyn has been very involved in NRPA (National Recreation and Park Association). She was a Board Member of NRPA from 2013-2019. Roslyn was a keynote at the inaugural Symposium on Leisure and Recreation Tourism in Shenzhen, China where she presented on being a Gold Medal Recreation and Parks Department as well as on the National Recreation and Parks Association.  She presented at the first Urban Park Conference in Chicago, is a familiar presenter at the NRPA Conference, she taught during the inaugural year of the Graduate Institute at Oglebay and currently was an instructor for NRPA Director's school from 2015-2019. She has been a member of the NRPA Urban Park Directors group since inception, served a short stint on the Program Committee, was a diversity mentor, young student/professional lunch pair, and assisted with the Urban Parks Summit. Roslyn is a Senior Executive Fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School and has a certificate of leadership from The Center for Creative Leadership.

Her passion and enthusiasm for her profession is ever evolving and Roslyn recently completed training to become a Certified International Coach. She is also very involved in the professional community and is a member of The Ethnic Minority Society of NRPA, Maryland Recreation and Parks Association, Americans for the Arts, Maryland Association of Counties and The National Forum of Black Public Administrator's Maryland and Central Virginia chapters. Her induction into The American Academy for Park & Recreation Administration has been one of her long awaited professional goals.

She’s a true advocate for and passionate believer in innovation of all forms; especially the ways in which it can shape our communities and the lives of our residents. Roslyn has served as keynote both nationally and internationally.  These days, Roslyn is particularly focused on the intersection of diversity and innovation as we look for ways to adapt to and to continue to enjoy an ever changing world. 
Roslyn graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park and in her free time enjoys making fused glass jewelry and silversmithing. 

Gina has been with NRPA for over 8 years. She leads a team of marketing, communication and publishing experts, each dedicated to NRPA’s mission and the good work accomplished every day by the park and recreation professionals throughout this country. Gina’s passion for parks and recreation began at a very young age.  Some of her fondest memories as a child are learning to swim, ballet and tap dance lessons, playing tennis and picnicking with her family – all offered through the park and recreation center in the small town where she lived. Gina learned early on that  parks and recreation is a powerful force in restoring the human spirit.  And to this day, when asked what her favorite place is, she quickly replies – a park!

Elvis Cordova is the Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), which is the nation’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of public parks, recreation and conservation.  Mr. Cordova leads NRPA’s federal policymaking initiatives by providing strategic planning for enhancing community-based and capacity building programs, and stakeholder engagement to advance parks, recreation, and conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all people. Mr. Cordova is a seasoned executive with over a decade of experience developing and implementing solutions for some of the most significant and high-profile challenges facing the U.S. public sector.  He has a unique combination of political, legal, economic, and international expertise.  He is a proven strategist and manager, adept at building coalitions and communicating effectively to diverse stakeholders.  He has built an intimate knowledge of the workings of the U.S. government and has developed strong relationships with a range of policymakers in key markets around the world. 

In 2012, Mr. Cordova was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as a Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  From 2012 to 2017, Mr. Cordova served in various leadership roles at USDA, including Deputy Under Secretary and Acting Under Secretary.  He oversaw food labeling programs (including organic and biotechnology), international trade regulations, research & educational grant programs, nutrition programs, commodity procurement, plant & animal health regulations, process verification programs, conservation programs, and the expansion of local and regional food systems.  He served on the White Task Force for Puerto Rico, focusing on building public-private partnerships to aid in the economic recovery efforts for the island.  Mr. Cordova entered the federal government a Presidential Management Fellow at the Farm Credit Administration and at the U.S. Department of Energy where his work encompassed alternative energy, economic development, financial services, and congressional affairs. Outside of the federal government, he served as a consultant for the United Nations where he focused on trade development strategies for emerging markets in Southeast Asia.  He also served as Vice President of Public Relations at Tzolkin Media Inc., and Director for Latin American programs at the Self Reliance Foundation.  Mr. Cordova began his career as a financial analyst at the Harvard Management Company.

He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University and a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University.  He is a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Graduate Fellowship and holds various professional certificates from Georgetown University, Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, Universidad de Sevilla (Spain), Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État (France), and Pontificia Universidade Catolica (Brazil). 
 
In his personal time, Mr. Cordova works with various national leadership organizations to create and expand opportunities for diverse communities in the Washington, D.C. area.  He has previously served on the Executive Board of the Washington D.C. Chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (now known as Prospanica).  He has served as a senior advisor for the Aspen Institute’s International Career Advancement Program.  He is a graduate of Leadership Alexandria, which is an executive-level training program in the national capital area, as well as a graduate of the Political Leaders Program from the Sorensen Institute at the University of Virginia.  He is an alumnus of Project Interchange, which is an international leadership program of the American Jewish Committee and an alumnus of the Hispanic Leaders Program, a professional development program organized by the Foreign Ministry of Spain. Mr. Cordova presently lives with his family in Alexandria, VA and has previously lived in Latin America and Europe.  His language capabilities include Spanish, Portuguese, and French. 

Dan McCarthy joined NRPA in February 2021 to lead grassroots advocacy campaigns and support members in their advocacy. Dan comes most recently from the anti-hunger community in Boston, where he organized coalitions to alleviate childhood hunger. He is a firm believer that our communities are stronger — and our government more effective — when people are interested, informed, and involved in the democratic process. 

Tamara Aquino Cespedes currently serves the Dallas Park and Rec department as Supervisor III for Lake Highlands North Recreation Center. As a first-generation college student, she graduated with a Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and earned her CPRP certification back in 2019. Since starting her recreation profession back in City of College Station, her main focus in programming is creating equitable access for youth. She enjoys designing curriculum and training others to lead activities that give kids an opportunity to do things they haven't done before. Her favorite city-wide recreation programs to be involved in are Outdoor Adventures and Late Teen Night. She is grateful for her team, her family, and the Parks and Rec show.

Betty Blockinger is the Volunteer Services Manager with Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. She has 10+ years of volunteer and non-profit management experience. She oversees Columbus Recreation and Parks Department’s volunteer program that include 15,000+  volunteers who annually plant trees, coach youth sports, mentor teens and much more.  She is passionate about placing volunteers in safe and exciting service projects throughout the city of Columbus.

Rosalie Hendon is an environmental planner for the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department. She manages natural resource projects on city parkland—everything from forests to prairies. Hendon holds two master degrees from the Ohio State University in both public administration and natural resources. An advocate of data-driven approaches to conservation work, Hendon is frequently surveying species in Columbus parks to determine the effects of habitat restoration. She believes local government has a critical role to play in environmental policy.

Brett Johnson is a Certified Wildlife Biologist, with 17 years experience in urban base natural resource management. After about 12 years with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as an Urban Wildlife Biologist, he moved into his current position as the Urban Biologist for the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, where he has been for the last 5 years. With the city, he oversees the feral hog trapping program, conservation outreach, prairie management, the Bird City Texas efforts, and the overall pollinator conservation “program”. Outside of work, he is very involved in scouts as an Assistant Scoutmaster, risk management chair, and he sits on the local council’s conservation committee. His interest in conservation started in the Boy Scouts, where he earned his Eagle Scout. He has a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M and an MS from Texas Tech University.

Michele White is a program manager for the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), whose work is centered in how parks advance conservation, sustainability and resiliency for communities across the country.  She specifically manages the Parks for Pollinators campaign, focused on raising public awareness of the current pollinator crisis by encouraging local action and advancing pollinator health and sustainable habitat through the work of park and recreation professionals and their communities.  She has a B.A. from Mount St. Mary’s University and is a Certified Association Executive and a graduate of the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management (IOM).  She is passionate about the connection of sustainably managed open space and their support of healthy ecosystems, especially pollinators.  

Brandi Peacher is the Director of Project Management in the Office of the Mayor with the City of Lexington, KY.  Peacher obtained a master’s in architecture from the University of Kentucky. Her design, planning, and development career has included work on a variety of commercial, residential, and public projects in Chicago, Dubai, and Lexington. Today, Peacher oversees a group of public space projects under the Town Branch Commons umbrella.  This signature project will follow the historic path of Town Branch, Lexington’s original water source, link downtown parks, incorporate green infrastructure, and provide an enhanced multi-modal transportation network.  

Michelle Kosieniak is the Superintendent of Planning and Design at Parks and Recreation in Lexington Kentucky. Upon completion of a BS in Landscape Architecture from the University of Kentucky, Kosieniak joined Parks and Recreation as a park designer. She has dedicated 25 years to community engagement while planning, designing and promoting stewardship at over 100 parks in Lexington. Kosieniak and her staff execute dozens of capital projects each year such as replacing the playground at Charles Young Park. One of Lexington’s oldest, this park has been a social center for a diverse, culturally rich, urban neighborhood since 1930. 

Jared Mummert is a Park Access Program Manager at NRPA and has been with the organization for 3.5 years. At NRPA, Jared has led work on NRPA’s Community Engagement Resource Guide, Equity in Parks and Recreation story map and Resilient Park Access grant program. With a B.S. in Environmental Law and Policy from Unity College, Jared is dedicated to environmental justice issues and is currently pursuing his Masters of Public Administration at George Mason University. Prior to his time at NRPA, Jared worked as a political and community outreach organizer on multiple campaigns, including organizing farmers in Maryland to close loopholes in the Clean Water Act, engaging Colorado voters in the 2014 midterm election, and working to connect low-income families to national parks. Jared has also served in the Student Conservation Association, AmeriCorps, and the National Park Service as park ranger for multiple sites, including Grand Teton National Park. As an avid outdoorsman and public lands advocate, Jared is passionate about ensuring everyone has access to quality open spaces.

Michael Sharon is the Deputy Superintendent at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, MD. EMI is part of FEMA’s National Preparedness Directorate (NPD). He was previously the Federal Preparedness Coordinator and National Preparedness Division Director at FEMA Region III, the Operations Planning Branch Chief, and Regional Integration Branch Chief.  Mike is a career emergency manager who also held positions at the U.S Department of State, Maryland Department of the Environment, and Maryland Emergency Management Agency.  Mike directly supports FEMA’s disaster response efforts as Chief of the National Response Coordination Center’s Gold Team and also as a liaison to the U.S. Secret Service during special security events.

Michele White is a program manager for the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) whose work is centered in how parks advance conservation, sustainability, and resiliency for communities across the country.  She has a B.A. from Mount St. Mary’s University and is a Certified Association Executive and a graduate of the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management (IOM).  She is passionate about the connection of sustainably managed open space and their support of healthy and resilient communities.