Equity in Practice Certificate 2: Pursuing Race Equity in Parks and Recreation

Thank you for your interest in NRPA's Equity in Practice program! The next session of Equity in Practice Certificate 2 will begin in September 2025. Applications open on March 31, 2025! Bookmark this page and put a reminder in your calendar!

Read on below to learn more about the program and how to apply!

Who is this Certificate for? 
Prerequisite: Completion of Certificate 1: Exploring Racial Equity in Parks and Recreation

During this program, participants will support each other to practice a mindset and skillset essential to putting equity into practice effectively, over time. Participants will analyze best practices and exchange insights from embedding those practices into their workplace.

Equity in Practice Certificate 2: Pursuing Racial Equity in Parks and Recreation is designed especially for individuals and teams in our Parks and Recreation community who have completed Certificate 1: Exploring Racial Equity in Parks and Recreation, and have a strong foundation for taking concrete actions toward greater equity.  

Certificate 2: Pursuing Racial Equity in Parks and Recreation, is a 12-week opportunity to elevate your thinking about equity and to build a strategic Equity Action Plan. This certificate offers a bit less new content - and a bit more time for dialogue with peers who, like you, are courageously and thoughtfully pursuing equity in their unique context.  

This certificate also lays the groundwork for Certificate 3: Integrating Race Equity in Parks and Recreation. During Certificate 3, participants focus on a concrete initiative to increase equity in their agency, get feedback from leaders in the field, and prioritize ways to amplify attention to equity in their day-to-day work moving forward.  

Overview of Certificate 2 
Similar to Certificate 1, Certificate 2 is an interactive program consisting of 6 learning blocks. Each block includes an interactive workshop during which you'll explore lots of important concepts and skills for growing equity in the field of Parks and Recreation. Each block is also supplemented with self-paced learning activities to keep learners engaged between workshops. Learners are provided with a workbook for each learning block to guide them through activities to advance their strategic plan between workshops. 

Cost
We are proud to offer this program at no cost to individual NRPA members. 

Time Commitment 
Cohorts are 12 weeks long and include

• 30-60 minutes of self-guided work each week, and 
• 6 live workshops via Zoom (1 workshop per 2-week learning block)*

*Due to the interactive learning design of the EiP program, learners are required to participate in the live workshops.

Start Date: September 2, 2025

End Date: December 12, 2025

The live virtual workshops for will be held from 1:00 – 3:30 PM EST on the following dates: 

How to Apply
Applications open on March 31, 2025. You will APPLY HERE!

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis through June 27, 2025. The first 20 qualified applications will be enrolled in this cohort. 

Questions? Contact us at dei_education@nrpa.org.