Park District Superintendent Releases New, Five-Year Strategic Plan Building an Inclusive and Connected Park System for All; And Creating Strong Anchors of Recreation, Wellness[...]

The District also announced wellness and sustainability initiatives that align with the strategic plan.

Earlier this week at the City Club of Chicago, Park District General Superintendent & CEO Rosa Escareño unveiled the District's five-year strategic plan, a blueprint to uplift communities through enhanced park services and operations. Over the past year, the Park District asked residents, park users, employees, volunteers, and numerous other partners to "picture your parks" to provide ideas for the future of our park system. The input provided during various engagement opportunities was vital in developing a plan in strong partnership with stakeholders that captures and represents the needs and aspirations of all.

"People told us that parks represent the best of life and community. So, we have big plans for the future of the Chicago Park District and our new, five-year strategic plan puts the parks on a strong path forward," said Park District General Superintendent and CEO Rosa Escareño. "What makes this effort even more significant is that it reflects the ideas and feedback from those who value and understand the importance of parks - park users, employees, volunteers, and visitors. I'm confident that we are positioned to make changes that will steer the future of our parks in a positive and meaningful way."

The Park District engaged in hundreds of hours of meetings with community members and staff. This included participating in community meetings, creating employee working and focus groups, hosting 11 in-person and virtual town halls, hosting teen and senior focus groups, and soliciting thousands of responses on community, volunteer, and staff surveys.  As a result of this feedback, the new plan includes a refreshed vision, mission, values, and goals. More details about our values, goals, and corresponding strategies for each goal can be found plan on our website.

The Park District's new mission and vision are:  

• Mission:  To give people of all ages, identities, and abilities access to quality recreation, wellness opportunities, and sustainable green spaces in every neighborhood. 
• Vision:  To build a healthier city through an inclusive Park District that connects communities with recreation and their fellow Chicagoans.  

Values: Our values define our day-to-day guiding principles that will keep us focused on the plan's operational priorities and reinforce our commitment to equity across the city.

Our new values are:

• Community Anchor: Connecting Chicagoans by maintaining thriving public spaces and affordable and accessible programs and services that strengthen our communities.
• Foster Belonging: Providing safe and inclusive spaces where our diverse community is embraced, valued, and treated with respect.
• Promote Innovation: Building a culture that welcomes change and embraces new ideas that prioritize the experiences of community members and employees.
• Thoughtful Stewardship: Managing resources responsible and transparently to ensure the long-term sustainability of parks.
• Health & Wellness: Providing opportunities for leisure, fitness, and recreation activities that enrich community wellbeing, support active living, and promote a healthy food environment.

Goals: Our goals represent our target accomplishments, aligning with our organizational values; our diversity, equity and inclusion statement; and our vision statement. Each goal has several aligned strategies. Each goal has several aligned strategies, which you can view in the full plan here.

Our new goals are:

• Exceptional Experiences: Enhance local engagement and expand park user base through tailored neighborhood programming.
• Community Wellbeing: Promote a thriving community by advancing wellbeing, offering opportunities to improve health outcomes, and enhancing quality of life.
• Parks for All: Foster and cultivate belonging to ensure inclusivity for people of all identities and abilities.
• A Greener City: Responsibly manage resources for long-term environmental resiliency.
• Effective Operations: Enhance and strengthen operational effectiveness.
• Leading Employer: Support a healthy work environment that promotes teamwork, wellness, and professional growth.

"What we heard through the strategic plan process confirms what we have been hearing from the residents through our monthly board process, so we are not waiting and have been working simultaneously on to tackle initiatives that enhance wellness and build on our green footprint building more sustainable parks," added Escareño.

While the new plan officially launches start of the 2025 calendar year, the District is already working on numerous strategies to reach our goals, including establishing our Health and Wellness Pillars to focus our commitment to promoting wellness throughout our park system. These pillars, announced this summer, will drive Park District efforts to provide equitable access to resources to give Chicagoans better opportunities to live healthier lives.

The pillars are:

• Promoting Community Wellbeing
• Supporting Active Living Through Parks, and
• Ensuring a Healthy Food Environment

Additionally, the Park District released a preview of its upcoming Park District Sustainability Report "Making Chicago a Greener City." This snapshot demonstrates the Park District's extensive sustainability efforts, which include:

• Improving energy efficiency, conserving water, and reducing waste and environmental hazards
• Working towards environmental justice including developing industrial sites and restoring ecological integrity
• Addressing climate change by reducing gas emissions by expanding and managing natural areas and green space

The District is also working on strengthening employee engagement and internal operations, evaluating our program offerings to ensure we continue to tailor programs to community needs, and strengthening our efforts to implement sustainable programs to preserve our parks well into the future. 

The Chicago Park District is committed to maintaining welcoming and thriving public spaces, affordable and accessible programs, and additional services that strengthen all communities. Over the next several months, the Park District will share more about the strategic plan, including the introduction of a public-facing dashboard to allow community members to track our progress towards each goal moving forward - an additional measure to enhance transparency.

The Chicago Park District's new 2025-2030 strategic plan is available here, and you can also connect to the Superintendent Escareno's presentation at City Club of Chicago here.

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