Park Pride
For the Greener Good
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Research shows the importance of access to nature and the health, economic, and environmental benefits that society gets from parks; therefore, the creation and improvement of parks has a ripple effect that benefits society as a whole. Unfortunately, not all Atlantans have easy access to a park and the benefits that parks provide. With only 6% of the city’s land used for parks and recreation, nearly a third of Atlanta’s residents—more than 100,000 people—do not live within a 10-minute walk of a park. With Atlanta’s population projected to increase 20% in the next ten years, this number is sure to rise unless leaders at every level of influence make parks and greenspace a top priority. Park Pride is working in Atlanta’s parks ecosystem at every level—by improving neighborhood parks, creating new community park advocates, and connecting grassroots leaders, funders, and government partners—so that all Atlantans can have access to a quality park.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Community Gardens
Community Gardens are a great way to build relationships, revitalize public spaces, provide access to healthy, affordable foods and create an enjoyable activity for people of all ages. Park Pride's role to help communities establish Community Gardens in city parks began in 2007, and we now support 23 gardens in neighborhoods across the city. Park Pride assists gardens through the initial approval process with the city and provides volunteers for the construction of the gardens. We provide ongoing support by connecting gardens to available resources as well as educational and networking opportunities.
Friends of the Park
A Friend of the Park group is formed as a first step in creating positive long lasting change in a public park. A “Friends of the Park” Group is a group of park users (often neighbors & community leaders) actively working to improve one or more parks in a defined geographic area. Park Pride’s Friends of the Park Program aids communities in their efforts to improve their parks by providing workshops, coaching, training, consultations, visioning services, technical support, networking opportunities, tool loans, materials, volunteers, and access to competitive matching grants to help these groups achieve their goals. There are over 160 community-based, Friends of the Park Groups participating in this program, from City of Atlanta, DeKalb County, Tucker, and Brookhaven.
Volunteer Program
Park Pride helps recruit, coordinate, and equip large groups of volunteers for park improvement projects - be it boardwalk building, spreading mulch, or removing invasives. We connect corporate groups, colleges, and civic groups to the community, thereby increasing engagement and awareness, building relationships, and bringing immediate improvements to parks.
Park Visioning
For Friends of the Park groups interested in developing a plan for their park, Park Pride offers comprehensive Park Visionings, which encourages residents to come together and envision a neighborhood space that fulfills the needs of the community. The 6-8 month process, moderated by Park Pride's landscape architects, converts that community's park dream into a plan that can be used to guide the park's development. Not only does the community gain a custom park vision - including a rendered illustrative plan, project list, cost estimates, maintenance recommendations, and implementation coaching - but also the park planning process is a catalyst for strengthening community cohesion and instilling a sense of shared values.
Grant Programs
Since 2004, Park Pride's Grantmaking Program has enabled Friends of the Park groups to make small- and large-scale investments in their neighborhood park. With a match specification, these grants include services to help build the community's experience and capacity. Funded by Foundation partners, grants include:
Small Change Grants -
Provides matching grants of up to $5,000 to Friends of the Park groups in the City of Atlanta, DeKalb County, City of Brookhaven, and City of Tucker.
Community Building Grants -
Provides matching grants of $2,500-$50,000 for the implementation of lasting park improvement projects in both the City of Atlanta and DeKalb County.
Legacy Grants -
Program provides matching grants of $50,000+ to support community implementation of comprehensive park visions and master plans in the City of Atlanta.
Advocacy
Park Pride serves as a “voice” that advocates for the benefit of parks. Park Pride develops responses to emerging park issues in Atlanta and the metro area and builds and maintains strong relationships with key partners, including grassroots advocates, key nonprofit partners, city council members, etc. Park Pride leverages these relationships and facilitates a strategic communications response to critical issues that impact parks.
Fiscal Sponsors
Through the Fiscal Sponsor service, Park Pride accepts contributions on behalf of neighborhood partners who are making improvements to their parks or public greenspaces. The program enables contributors to make tax deductible contributions to qualified projects under Park Pride’s 501(c)(3). This service provides a great way to launch a community fundraiser without having to set up a new non-profit organization and has enabled neighborhoods throughout Atlanta and DeKalb County to realize their dreams of new playgrounds, enhanced landscaping, park amenities, and preserved greenspace.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of educational events and workshops
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Advocacy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of workshops, Conference, roundtables , and educational tours.
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Grant Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2022, Park Pride's Grantmaking Program awarded $2.3 million in grants to 23 community groups for park improvement projects, with 60% of the funds allocated to low-income communities.
Number of communities receiving landscape design services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Park Visioning
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In 2022, our Visioning program provided 40 communities with park design services, including 4 comprehensive park vision processes and 1 design workshop.
Number of attendees at Park Pride's educational and networking events.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Friends of the Park
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Parks have the power to increase quality of life. They promote community engagement, health, safety, and revitalization. They make citizens happy, communities strong, and cities sustainable.
For over 30 years, Park Pride has engaged communities to activate the power of parks. We believe that everyone deserves access to a quality park. Using a bottom-up approach that recognizes the community as the expert, Park Pride’s programs and resources empower neighbors to create local parks that meet their unique needs. Working for the greener good, Park Pride seeks to create positive, lasting change in Atlanta-area public parks and greenspaces.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Since its founding on November 13, 1989, community engagement and empowerment has been at the heart of Park Pride’s philosophy and approach. Park Pride has a community-centered model, which offers training, empowerment, encouragement, networking, and educational opportunities focused on park and greenspace development. We provide technical and administrative support to help people improve their local parks.
Park Pride offers a comprehensive structure, beginning with the Friends of the Park program. Neighborhood groups gain skills, knowledge, and resources to improve their parks and greenspaces for the benefit of the entire community. Park Pride provides workshops, coaching, training, consultations, park design services, technical support, networking opportunities, tool loans, materials, volunteers, and grants to help these groups achieve their goals. Park Pride offers regular meetings and scholarship opportunities, financial and administrative services, and coordination and delivery of efforts that bring a community together to enhance their shared parks and greenspaces.
Since great parks provide immeasurable benefits to a community, positively impacting nearly every facet of a neighborhood, Park Pride works to ensure that greenspace initiatives are adequately funded and remain a priority of elected officials. Park Pride provides a voice for parks on behalf of the communities they serve through a series of leadership and advocacy efforts—to preserve, maintain, and build natural spaces for Atlantans to enjoy.
Park Pride programs include:
• Friends of the Park
• Park Visioning
• Volunteer
• Grants
• Fiscal Sponsorship
Park Pride’s advocacy and education efforts include:
• Parks and Greenspace Conference
• Roundtables
• Workshops
• Park Meetings
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Park Pride is an Atlanta-based nonprofit that provides programs and leadership to help communities realize their dreams for their neighborhood parks. Park Pride serves economically and demographically diverse communities in the City of Atlanta, Dekalb County, City of Brookhaven, and the City of Tucker. Engaging a broad range of people and organizations to activate the power of parks through volunteer projects, community gardens, community-led park designs, and by providing grants for capital park improvements, Park Pride works as a "connector" - bringing governments, corporations, foundations, nonprofits, and citizens together to create and extend the benefits that parks offer to every neighborhood in Atlanta.
With the adoption of a new strategic plan in January 2019, Park Pride's staff works to deliver programs and leadership in a way that is reflective of the organization’s core values—community-based, equitable, inclusive, collaborative, and trustworthy.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Park Pride envisions an Atlanta strengthened by and united through great parks, trails, and greenspaces that meet the needs and reflect the unique character of all communities. We look forward to continuing our work for the greener good by engaging communities to activate the power of parks and by ensuring access to nature for all Atlantans.
As a leader in Atlanta’s parks and greenspaces, over the past 5 years Park Pride has:
• Provided support for more than 100 Friends of the Park groups who steward over 250 parks
• Coordinated over 68,500 volunteer service hours by 21,799 volunteers in parks
• Educated over 3,600 civic leaders, elected officials and park advocates at 5 annual Parks and Greenspace Conferences and 12 Roundtables
• Completed 20 park Visionings, 89 park design consultations, and 10 community schoolyards Visionings
• Assisted with the creation of 23 community gardens
• Awarded nearly $6 million grants for park improvement projects
• Brought together local and national funding sources to build, with partners, the new Kathryn Johnston Memorial Park and Mattie Freeland Park
• Advocated for continued public investment, including park development, improvement, and maintenance each year; TSPLOST/MARTA funding for BeltLine and other trail expansion; and the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Amendment
• Convened a coalition of 13 nonprofits to advance an environmentally-focused greenspace platform with Atlanta mayoral candidates at the 2020 Mayoral Forum on Greenspace (with over 700 registered attendees) and helped form the Greenspace Advisory Council to the City of Atlanta Mayor.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Park Pride
Board of directorsas of 03/13/2023
Ms. Kristy Rachal
Kristy Rachal
Georgia Power Company
Peggy Allumbaugh
Retired, Deloitte
Erik Brecheisen
Delta Air Lines
Randall Kent
Community Volunteer
Jeff Ellman
Jones Day
Liz Gillespie
Architect of Experience
Tanya Hairston-Whitner
The Home Depot
Lee Harrop
Westside Future Fund
Abraxas Abrams-Pickens
NOTLA Management & Consulting
Sofia Aun
Truist
Luis Avila
Cox Enterprises
Mark Balloun
MultiCam Southeast
Kirk Billings
Bowline Investment Group
David Brabham
Georgia-Pacific
Wesley Brooks
Wells Fargo
Alex Brown
Alston & Bird
Dontá Council
Federal Reserve Bank of America
Omari Henderson
Chick-fil-A
Jennifer Ide
Rimidi
Atiba Mbiwan
The Zeist Foundation
Pedro Pavón
Meta
Cynthia Searcy
Georgia State University
Daryl Smith
Tempus
Susan Stainback
Sylvatica Studio
Jerry Travers
Bank of America
Aaron Watson
Thompson Hine
Mironda Williams
MD Wellspring
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/07/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.