Park Bench Chat: 2024 ParkScore® Index Release – How Parks Are Vital to Strengthening Community

2024 ParkScore® Index Release – How Parks Are Vital to Strengthening Community

Join us on May 22 at noon (PDT) / 3:00 p.m. (EDT) for the release of our 2024 ParkScore® index. TPL Senior Director of Strategy and Innovation Linda Hwang, will be joined by leading community and park experts to unveil this year’s top rankings and take an in-depth look at why cities with better parks systems are stronger, more connected places are to live. We will also share practical ways you can improve social connections and parks in your own community.

Speakers:

Superintendent Corey K. Wilson

Corey Wilson has been the Superintendent of the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC) since 2019, following a unanimous vote from the Commission. He was previously BREC’s in-house attorney and administrative executive, where he oversaw key administrative departments and managed all legal matters. Beyond his BREC role, Wilson teaches at the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Directors School and has presented at various national conferences. He’s a member of the NRPA Ethnic Minority Society and a Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP). Wilson is also a City Parks Alliance Board Member.

Before BREC, Wilson spent a decade working in finance and real estate development in New Orleans and worked with FEMA post-Hurricane Katrina. He holds an accounting degree from Morehouse College and a law degree from Harvard Law School. Wilson is active in his community, serving on local boards and volunteering. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, daughter, and their Labrador, Cookie.

Brooks Nelson

Senior Manager for Community Resilience at Walmart.org. Brooks Nelson is a senior manager on the community resilience team at Walmart.org. In this role, Brooks leads disaster preparedness and response, as well as food recovery and product donations for Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. Before joining Walmart, Brooks served as the Senior Director of Global Resilience at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation where he managed the Community Resilience and Disaster Response program. In this position, Brooks led programming around the private sector’s role in preparedness, response and recovery to both natural and human-made disasters. Early in his career, Brooks was with USA Freedom Corps, the civic engagement office of the White House under the Bush Administration.

Kimberly Serrano

Kimberly Serrano is the Director of the Center for Inclusion and Belonging at the American Immigration Council where she provides vision and strategic direction for a portfolio of narrative and culture change projects that work to increase social trust, bridge diverse experiences, and foster a sense of belonging. Prior to joining the Council she managed messaging research and founded the CoLAB at California Immigrant Policy Center to build inclusive narratives that dignify and humanize immigrants and refugees. Over nearly two decades Kimberly has coordinated economic, environmental, and community development research projects with partners across California and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. She is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of UCLA with degrees in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP), Latin American Studies (MA), and Art History (BA).