Judy Weiss, CPRE, is the Director of Parks and Recreation for Coconino County, AZ. At 18,000 square miles, Coconino County is the second largest County in the lower 48 states. Judy is responsible for more than 3000 acres of developed park and natural area open space. Since her arrival in Coconino County in 2011, Judy has developed several public private partnerships in a County regional park near Flagstaff that is generating more than $10 million in economic impact to the area.
Judy spent 2 ½ years as the Assistant Parks and Recreation Director for the City of El Paso, Texas where she managed 15 recreation centers, 9 senior centers, 15 indoor and outdoor public pools, as well as all recreation programming for this diverse, urban, border city.
Judy started her professional career with the City of Scottsdale, Arizona in 1979, ending as Parks and Recreation Director in 2007. In 1994, Judy was successful in attaining Arizona's first national accreditation for parks and recreation agencies as a pilot organization. Judy served on the national Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) from 1997-2003, serving as Chair from 2001-2003, and is currently serving a second term on this Commission. She has spoken at various State, ICMA, NRPA and MWR Conferences on the subject of parks and recreation agency accreditation and has developed and presented the accreditation advanced training workshop.
Judy is currently the past-chair of the National Certification Board, serves on the executive committee of the CAPRA Commission and is on the faculty of the NRPA Director’s School. She is a past president of the Arizona Park and Recreation Association and is serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Park and Recreation Society (APRS).
Judy earned a Bachelor's of Science degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration from Arizona State University. Judy is also a Certified Firefighter II, serving for 10 years on the City of Scottsdale's Fire Support Program, as both and Engineer and Crew Lieutenant. [updated 1/14]