Community Wellness Hubs: A Public Health Solution

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How has access to parks and recreation influenced your personal health and well-being? How has it impacted your communities? Join NRPA for an exploration of the many ways parks and recreation influences health. Attendees will be guided through NRPA’s new Community Wellness Hub toolkit and its overall vision including key concepts, definitions and examples of health equity and systems change approaches across NRPA’s seven dimensions of well-being. Several agencies that have developed Community Wellness Hubs will join to share their lessons learned, the impact this work made on their community, and how they are sustaining their work moving forward.

Allison Colman (she/her)

Director of Health

National Recreation and Park Association

Allison Colman is Director of Health at the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). For over a decade, Ms. Colman has led the development and implementation of evidence-based public health initiatives and built cross-sector collaborations to advance innovative, community-driven, systems-change strategies that improve community health and well-being. Her work lies at the intersection of public health, social justice, and social change, with the goal of ensuring that all people have the opportunity to truly thrive.

Austin Barrett, PhD (he/him)

Evaluation Manager

National Recreation and Park Association

Austin Barrett (he/him) is an Evaluation Manager with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). Austin joined NRPA in 2021 and works to evaluate the impact of NRPA-facilitated grants and Association-wide activities. Prior to joining NRPA, he served for 3.5 years as a Data Analyst and System Administrator working to address homelessness in the Upstate of South Carolina. In 2017, Austin completed his Ph.D. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management at The Pennsylvania State University. Before that, he worked as a Wilderness Ranger for the US Forest Service and an Interpretation Ranger with the National Park Service.

Ayanna Williams (she/her)

Facility Manager

City of Ozark- Ozark Leisure Services

My name is Ayanna Williams, I am a 37 year old mother of 3. I have lived in Ozark, Alabama approximately 6 years. I have truly enjoyed being a part of the community, knowing people, and being able to be a part of all the great people who want to help and see the best for our community. I went to school at Troy University for Psychology with minor in Applied Behavioral Analysis and my goal is to go further for my Masters as a BCBA.

Shelly Strasser (she/her)

Director of Recreation and Community Services

West Allis-West Milwaukee School District

Vhelly has been in the field of Recreation for over 25 years. She is the Director for the West Allis-West Milwaukee Recreation and Community Services Department, where she has served in the role for the past 14 years. She leads a team of 14 full time staff and 300+ part time/seasonal employees in a community of approximately 64,000. Shelly is the current President of the Wisconsin Park and Recreation Association.