September 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 77

NRPA Action
IN

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

David Miller
" We're in this together, and we all want each other to succeed. "

sional with more
than 30 years in the ﬁeld, David Miller knows what tools his
colleagues need to excel in
their careers and serve their
communities well. His own career has taken him from park
and recreation agencies in
Michigan and Florida to the
city of Alexandria, Virginia,
where he currently serves as division chief
of recreation services. But Miller is also
committed to helping park and recreation
professionals across the country augment
their knowledge and skills as well. His volunteer service includes six years on NRPA's Congress Program Committee, which
helps plan the association's annual gathering, and seven with the National Recreation and Parks Ethnic Minority Society,
which works to promote professional development and advancement opportunities for people of color in the ﬁeld of parks
and recreation.

You have been a member of the Congress Program Committee since 2006
and served as chair in 2011. What
has your work on this committee
involved?
During my time [on the committee], I managed this thing called " the board, " which
was an interesting process! We had this
big Velcro board where we would select
sessions and slot them. It's all electronic
now, which happened on my watch, and
I consider that one of my biggest accomplishments during the year I was the chair.

Why do you think
it's important for
NRPA members to
attend the annual
Congress, and what
advice do you have
for attendees to
get the most out
of their Congress
experience?
Starting with the
personal side first,
Congress is a wonderful opportunity to
connect and reconnect with other professionals in less-formal settings and have
some informal dialogue about what's going on. I probably get as much beneﬁt out
of that as anything else.
The second benefit, from the professional side, is to ﬁnd out what the trends
are, what's working in the ﬁeld, and to hear
from practitioners and other professionals
who are making it happen. It's such a great
opportunity, and you can gain so much.

You worked for the City of Fort Lauderdale as they were going through their
initial accreditation phase, and you now
work for an agency that has been accredited for eight years. How does
working for an accredited agency differ from working for a non-accredited
agency?
It's interesting, Fort Lauderdale was the
first agency I worked with that went
through the process when I was part of it.
The pride that was exhibited from the staff
[upon receiving the CAPRA accreditation]
and their ability to say 'Hey, we're recognized as one of the best, we're recognized

as doing things right,' creates an immense
pride in the organization, but it also creates some very good structure for how
things ought to operate. [Accreditation]
helps us to set benchmarks and set standards, from programming policy to how
we keep track of our meeting notes-
things that you don't often think of as important, but down the line, they become
very important. So it helps us to create
those kinds of standards to operate on,
those things to help the agency advance
forward.

Minorities are often underrepresented
in the ﬁeld of parks and recreation,
a demographic you have worked to
support through your work with the
National Recreation and Parks Ethnic
Minority Society (EMS). How has
the field changed since you began
working in it, and what steps need to
be taken for continued inclusive
progress?
Our profession is a microcosm of society;
as society advances, there become more
opportunities for people of color and of
different cultures. It's beholden upon
those who get positions that they operate
with competence, character, and integrity so it blazes a trail for those who follow.
What we've done in EMS that we're trying to implement this year is a mentorship
program, to mentor professionals of color
to help them make that transition to the
next level so they can set examples. There
do need to be more opportunities, and I
think that just comes with time.
-Interview by Danielle Taylor,
Associate Editor, Parks & Recreation

W W W . N R P A . O R G S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 Parks

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September 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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