NRPA Research Clinic: Get Started on Your Data Journey

Registration Closed

How does your organization communicate the value of parks and recreation? There are so many resources available — how can they best be used in a relevant way? Join NRPA’s Research team on March 23, 2023 at 3:00pm EST for this hands-on clinic that will focus on using NRPA data to make optimal decisions on operations, programming and spending, as well as make the case for greater and more sustainable funding. Agency professionals will come away with an appreciation for why these tools matter and have realistic expectations of what these tools can (and can’t) do in supporting advocacy efforts.

By the end of this clinic, learners will have:

Generated ways NRPA data can help improve park performance and funding

Scavenged the NRPA data sources to find data that corresponds to common questions

Practiced selecting data that answers specific questions with a case study

Named a current opportunity/problem the student is having and identify the NRPA data that helps tell their story

Melissa May (she/her)

Senior Research Manager

National Recreation and Park Association

Melissa came to the NRPA Research team in 2015 with a background in environmental planning, GIS, and government contracting. At NRPA, Melissa helps with producing member surveys and reports, as well as, creating Tableau interactive graphics and ArcGIS StoryMaps. Additionally, Melissa leads work related to NRPA Park Metrics, Facility Market Reports and Park Pulse.

Kevin Roth, PhD (he/him)

Vice President of Research, Evaluation and Technology

National Recreation and Park Association

Kevin A. Roth serves as NRPA's Vice President of Research, Evaluation & Technology. Roth leads the research team in its mission to create valuable data and metrics that enhance park and recreation agency performance and make the case for increased and more stable agency funding. He also oversees the team delivering IT and web services to the association.

Roth has served in research and leadership functions in the nonprofit association space for more than two decades, including overseeing both research and IT at the Association for Financial Professionals for 13 years and conducting survey research at the National Association of Realtors for four years. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from George Washington University and a BA in Economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.