Annual Parks & Greenspace Conference

Each year, Park Pride hosts the annual Parks & Greenspace Conference, the largest parks conference in the southeast, showcasing thought leaders from Atlanta and across the nation. Through education and inspiration, the conference focuses on best practices for companies and individuals who are united by a common desire to improve parks and strengthen communities.

Get your ticket today!

Regular – $230 | Government & Nonprofit – $200 | Scholarship – $50

2026 Conference Theme

Resilient Parks, Resilient Communities

The parks and greenspace sector faces mounting stressors: a changing (and changed) climate, shifting weather patterns, intensifying heat, and, more recently, a global pandemic and a post-Helene reality where no city feels immune from climate impacts. Added to this are escalating economic and political pressures that affect both parks and the people who rely on them.

This year, under the theme Resilient Parks, Resilient Communities, we examine resilience with today’s realities in mind. Together, we will reflect on what has changed, how grassroots leadership and innovation have emerged in response, and how parks continue to strengthen and fortify our cities and communities—today and into the future.

Explore the program

Keynote Speakers

Melvin Carter, former Mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota

Melvin Carter is a public-sector executive and civic leader who served as Mayor of Saint Paul from 2018 through 2025. During his tenure, he frequently served as a national voice through periods of profound challenge and change, while locally advancing a community-first approach to public safety, economic stability, and inclusive growth. His administration led nationally recognized governing innovations, including citywide college savings accounts for children, the nation’s first publicly funded guaranteed income pilot, elimination of public library fines, major long-term investments in housing, parks, infrastructure, and climate initiatives, and a significant reduction in violent crime.

Carter has a deep background in child and family support systems, having previously served as Executive Director of the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet, Director of the Minnesota Office of Early Learning, and Vice President of the Saint Paul City Council. He founded the Saint Paul Promise Neighborhood in 2009 and has built a well-earned reputation for pragmatic, people-centered leadership grounded in lived experience. A fifth-generation Saint Paul resident, Carter is a frequent speaker on equity-driven systems change, and the role of local government in addressing national challenges.

Anika Goss – Chief Executive Officer, Detroit Future City

Anika heads Detroit Future City (DFC), a nonprofit think-and-do tank focused on land use and sustainability, community and economic development, and economic equity in Detroit.

Anika leads a team of experts to implement the DFC Strategic Framework, a comprehensive 50-year guide to decision-making and investment in Detroit. Since taking the helm of DFC, Anika has repositioned the organization with several significant research studies, a web-based dashboard that tracks six indicators that illustrate the deep disparities that exist in Detroit and the region, and has awarded over $330,000 in grants towards vacant land revitalization.

Anika’s leadership has been recognized in Detroit and nationally, including Crain’s Detroit Business, Michigan Chronicle, and Corps! Magazine. Anika has also had numerous speaking engagements, including her recent TED Talk “Detroit’s climate crisis—and how to build a resilient future everywhere.”

Gena Wirth, RLA, FASLA – Design Principal and Partner, SCAPE

Gena works with cities, community advocates and landowners to reveal the immense ecological and cultural potential of public landscapes.

As Design Principal, Gena translates research into practice, leading the design and implementation of complex, multi-stakeholder landscapes—including public and private waterfronts, regional trail systems, parks, plazas and climate adaptation plans.

Gena is also a tenacious advocate for ecological systems design across the design fields — both as a member of the Dredge Research Collaborative, a non-profit group, and through past teaching positions at Harvard, Columbia, Syracuse and Rutgers. She also serves on SCAPE’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC), helping advance the firm’s commitments to social and racial justice within our work and throughout the field.

She is co-author of Silt Sand Slurry, published by Applied Research + Design Publishing.