September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 44

QUICK GUIDES
but especially for those who may
have limited capacity and are looking
to make tangible, meaningful
changes in their communities and
places of work. Regardless of the
role within your agency, we know
individuals can make profound
positive changes. These guides are
crowdsourced from the field, sharing
the lessons and practices of the
NRPA community. For the past
year, other professionals in the field
worked to gather examples, information
and data to help you make
the case for change in specific areas
where DEI principles can be easily
incorporated into existing park and
recreation programs.
Addressing Unique Needs
The committee took into consideration
that each agency, community
and approach is unique. The
guides provide ideas and paths to
implementation on a variety of
topics and have been created by
a team of dedicated NRPA members
from all over the country
who reached out to their extended
networks to compile multiple
perspectives and solutions. Each
quick guide focuses on a specific
area to provide a clear and comprehensive
resource. The NRPA
DEI Network adopted the quick
guides project to give members an
easy and " quick " place to start.
These were created with the vision
that park and recreation professionals
will find a quick guide that
speaks to them, one that falls within
their area of influence, or one
that addresses an inequity or barrier
that exists in their community.
The
committee identified
six
topics to tackle first: event naming,
inclusive hiring, marketing/public
engagement, inclusive swimwear
attire,
sports
rules,
policies and
guidelines, and starting a JEDI (justice,
equity, diversity and inclusion)
committee. The first quick guide,
" Developing an Inclusive Swimwear
Attire Policy, " was released
in August. The next three, " Inclusive
Event and Program Naming, "
" Reducing Implicit Bias in Hiring "
and " Creating a DEI Committee, "
will be released in September and
October. The last two in this series,
" Sports Policies " and " Inclusive
Marketing and Promotion, " will be
released in early 2025.
NRPA Quick Guide:
Developing an Inclusive
Swimwear Attire Policy
The
" Developing
assists
aquatics
an Inclusive
Swimwear Attire Policy " quick
guide
facility
operators and programmers with
the development or redevelopment
of a swimwear policy
inclusive and appropriate
aquatics
that
your
is
for
facility and your
community. Narrow requirements
for
swimwear in a swimming
pool can create barriers and limit
access to your community based
on a variety of factors, including
socioeconomic
status,
religion,
culture, gender identity and ability.
This guide includes talking points
to share with staff and community,
explaining the benefits of adopting
a more inclusive policy, pictures
and posters from agencies that have
made these changes and links to
sample existing policies from other
agencies across the country.
Thanks to Robin Steinshnider, City
of Dallas (Texas), for leading this work
with Stacie Campbell, City of Pearland
(Texas), and Guillermo Navarro, City
of Emeryville (California).
NRPA Quick Guide:
Inclusive Event and
Program Naming
The " Inclusive Event and Program
Naming " quick guide is designed
to broaden the reach of agencies
within the different communities
" Developing an Inclusive Swimwear
Attire Policy " helps aquatics facility
operators and programmers equitably
develop or revise their swimwear policy.
44 Parks & Recreation | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2024 – Parks & Recreation
