Giving Ourselves Grace While We Build A Better Normal
with Roslyn Johnson, CPRP
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Giving yourself grace is permission to forgive your mistakes, lapses in judgment, and hurtful behavior because no one is perfect. During this keynote, we will take a look back and recognize how valued Recreation and Parks as a whole and our staff individually were during the pandemic. We were invaluable because of the work every rec and parks professional in Oregon did to actually save lives, build community, and provide safe places. In many instances, aside from grocery stores, hospitals, gas stations, and jails, parks were the only place people could safely go to get away, walk, reduce their blood pressure, think, exercise, and just have fun while the world around them seemed to be so uncertain and in constant flux. Our parks were FREE and as many people were struggling financially, parks were the one thing people could easily afford. In many counties, our recreation facilities provided much-needed testing, vaccinations, and in-person safe places for virtual schooling.
We learned a lot during Covid, especially about what was important to us and many began to put work in perspective. Who knew park and recreation staff could actually telework! How do we compensate and plan for how our employees want to work and how their values have changed? What does our workplace look like and how do we now provide services for our employed public who now work differently as well?
If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. How do we work together now that we are fully open and take all of the lessons learned to give the communities we serve what they want now? What does that look like? We will begin to start thinking about what a better normal will be. How do we take this renewed interest in Recreation and Parks and how do we build upon it while giving ourselves and our team grace as we move forward?
This session is possible with the generous support of:
About Roslyn Johnson, CPRP
Roslyn Johnson, CPRP was unanimously confirmed in March 2020 (three weeks before the pandemic) 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 its 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.
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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.
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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 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, a 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.
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Her passion and enthusiasm for her profession are 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.
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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 a 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 continue to enjoy an ever-changing world.
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Roslyn graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, and in her free time enjoys making fused glass jewelry and silversmithing.