October 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 12

NRPA B o a r d C h a i r

Lois Finkelman

hat attracted you to NRPA in the first place?
Many of our park department staff were involved in NRPA and Dallas had hosted a Congress in 1985. Our department director and
his staff believed in the value of NRPA and encouraged park
board members to attend Congress and paid for our expenses.
What value do you see in advocating for parks and
recreation at the national level?
There is the opportunity to advocate for increases or, in some
cases, just to maintain funding for facilities and land as well as
for potential funding for programs and activities. NRPA watches over regulatory matters that affect the park and recreation
world and it advocates for regulations that make sense and
achieve their goals.
What did you learn about consensus building during
your time on the board? What was the most interesting
example of consensus building that you achieved?
Consensus building is always a challenge, particularly in
groups with individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives. In most cases, though, building a consensus has
not been a problem when dealing with substantive issues. The
most controversial situations occurred over the governance
changes during the past five years. Reducing the size of the
board of directors and the pathways to the board and changing the way interest groups within NRPA function have created
the most controversy. Engaging as many people as possible
in the discussions and trying to address as many concerns as
possible within a reasonable amount of time has helped us develop consensus, although certainly not unanimity.
Advocacy plays such an important role at all levels of
parks and recreation. What have you learned at the national level about advocating for parks at the local level?
Having started out advocating at the local level, primarily
for parks and open space, what I learned most clearly is the

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benefit of establishing a personal relationship with a local decision-maker when there are no issues on the table and when
you don't want something. Inviting elected officials to attend
events in our parks and giving them opportunities for postive
photo ops and PR is beneficial.
Is there anything you would do differently if you had
the chance to repeat your board tenure?
I'd spend more time with our young professionals and the citizens who attend the Legislative Forum and Congress to let
them know how important they are to our future and to encourage them to stay involved.
How would you characterize the changes over the last
two years in terms of both board evolution and member
engagement?
The structural changes have been significant. The board reduction has allowed for more board involvement in decisionmaking, as has holding more board meetings electronically
during the year, as opposed to just at Congress and at a spring
meeting. As for the changes related to the Branches and Sections, it will take a little time for the dust to settle and for the
benefits to become clear. One of the critical changes in the last
few years was the hiring of our CEO, Barbara Tulipane, who
has brought a fresh and insightful approach to NRPA and a willingness to think out of the box.
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October 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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