Christine "Chris" Dropinski worked in public parks and recreation for 24 years, with nearly half of that as Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Boulder. This was followed by 23 years as consultant and co-owner of GreenPlay, LLC, a parks, recreation and open space management consulting firm that merged with BerryDunn in 2021. That consulting experience expanded her horizons in parks and recreation and reached almost every state in the US. Now retired, she began her career armed with a teaching degree in addition to her P&R degree, graduating Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation Administration/ Education in 1977 from the State University of New York at Cortland where she was a member of Kappa Delta Pi National Honor Society in Education.
Throughout her career Chris explored her passion for the financial stability of our parks and recreation agencies particularly related to the delicate balance of taxes, user fees, and private contributions. She led the design and sharing of a well accepted approach that was adopted successfully by many agencies across the country because it established a framework for discussion of this topic with local constituents and was based on fairness, reality, and ease of understanding. This more technical work was balanced with an unrelenting focus on our credibility as parks and recreation professionals by building our influence.
Chris has passionately helped move our profession forward, serving in leadership and faculty positions ranging from non-profits and foundations, including President and now lifetime trustee of the American Parks and Recreation Foundation, board officer of the National Association of Park Foundations, President and now Advisory Board member for ActivEnviro (formerly GP RED), and member of the Board of Regents and Chair of the Rocky Mountain Revenue Resources Management School, to name a few.
As a Certified Parks and Recreation Executive, a 2004 inductee of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, and experienced consultant, she continues to help organizations remain relevant in our ever-changing environment through her volunteer efforts.