Accreditation Ready: What Does it Take to Become CAPRA?
Track: Business Administration

Thursday, April 30th | 1:15 - 12:30pm
Speakers: Julie Parascondola, Metro Parks Tacoma/CAPRA Commission
Room: 316

Description: For those agencies ready to move forward with accreditation, this session will provide an in-depth overview of the accreditation process, the benefits of accreditation, costs and standards overview, along with suggestions on how to approach accreditation in your agency. Following the overview will be an informal discussion and opportunity for questions and answers.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn more about the CAPRA national accreditation process in general.
• Participants will learn more about the best practices/standards accreditation requires an agency to meet.
• Participants will leave with a good understanding whether your agency is ready for national accreditation.

Speaker Bio: Julie Parascondola, Metro Parks Tacoma

Julie has worked at Metro Parks Tacoma for 17 years; currently serving as Regional Parks Manager for the Department of Parks and Natural Resources. She is an active, CAPRA Visit Chair and is also serving her second term as a CAPRA Commissioner representing NRPA on the 15-Member National CAPRA Board. She has mentored several agencies, led as a Visit Chair, Commission Lead or Second over 36 agencies through accreditation and helped re-write the recently updated 2014 CAPRA standards. In 2014, Julie led Metro Parks Tacoma through their first national accreditation with 100% of standards met. Julie is a graduate of Marketing and Revenue School, Executive Development School and Director’s School and is a Certified Park and Recreation Professional. She is currently pursuing her degree in Public Sector Leadership at North Carolina State University.