January 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 64

NRPA Update

Member Spotlight: Seve Ghose, CPRE

any park and recreation professionals experience twists and
turns in their professional paths, but Seve Ghose's journey
from a child growing up in Zambia, Africa, to the helm of
the Louisville, Kentucky Metro Parks and Recreation Department, may take the cake. Born in India, raised in Zambia and schooled in
Darjeeling and Iowa State University, Ghose possesses a vibrancy that is surely enhanced by his worldly upbringing and go-get-'em attitude. He put himself through college working at Ames Parks and Recreation and, unable to
find work after graduation, began his park and recreation career in earnest as
the operator of the local ice arena some 29 years ago. Now, four months into
his job as director of Louisville Metro Parks, Ghose is as energetic, engaged
and excited as he was during those initial forays into the industry. Here, we
learn more about his aspirations for his new agency and what he wants the
public to know about parks and recreation.

Parks & Recreation magazine: Tell
us about your professional trajectory in parks and recreation.
Seve Ghose: The journey to advance
my career has taken me to Illinois,
Colorado, Oregon, Iowa and now
Kentucky, working in the private
sector, park districts and in municipalities large and small in positions
ranging from project management,
facility management, recreation,
parks, planning and community outreach and engagement. The one position that stands out for me is the
regional director job I had with the
city of Portland, Oregon. There, I
learned the most and, to this day, value all that I sponged. This experience
led to my stint in Davenport, Iowa,
as the director there for five years,
moving a department that was slated
for demise to become a relevant force
for positive change in the community and, in the process, becoming nationally accredited as the only agency
from Iowa with that honor.
P&R: What are your goals for Louisville Metro Parks?
Ghose: My goal is to make our de62 Parks & Recreation

partment the one by which all other park and recreation agencies are
benchmarked against, as the standard bearer. I love Louisville, and my
family and I are absolutely happy we
made the move. The department has
professional staff in all levels who
hunger to be the best, along with us
having strong political and community support.
P&R: What are some of your greatest challenges as director?
Ghose: Continually motivating staff
to think beyond the day-to-day and
look to be proactive. We easily get
mired in our silos, afraid of change
and reluctant to look to the future.
Our job is not only to be good stewards, but to also leave a lasting legacy
of inclusion, innovation and value
for future generations.
P&R: What's surprised you most
during your career?
Ghose: The most striking has been
the continual refrain of how easily
our field gets marginalized and how
much more work we, as professionals, have to do to be relevant in the

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community, socially and politically.
P&R: If you could tell the public one
thing it should know about its community park systems, what would
that be?
Ghose: Parks and recreation is an
essential piece to the quality-of-life
puzzle. We thus need to espouse the
value of homes tied to their proximity to parks, health, wellness and sustainable practices. We do have empirical evidence available to verify the
above-mentioned items.
P&R: Any resolutions for the new
year that you'd like to share?
Ghose: Raise the Metro Parks profile
further in Louisville and nationally,
spend more time with family and to
not take work on vacation.
- Samantha Bartram, Executive Editor of Parks & Recreation magazine

January 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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