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Contact: Jeremy Barnum, (202) 619-7177 WASHINGTON -- The National Park Service (NPS) has selected Julia Washburn, associate director for interpretation and education, at the NPS headquarters, as the next superintendent of Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.Washburn’s appointment to the position was finalized before the Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Hiring Freeze was issued on January 23, 2017. “Julia is a valued innovator,” Regional Director Bob Vogel said. “Her entrepreneurial talent and proven ability to build partnerships between parks and communities make her ideal for this position.” Washburn has served as the associate director for interpretation and education since 2010. She oversaw all educational, media and volunteer programs at the national level, and grew youth initiatives, including the Every Kid in a Park program. As the NPS agency lead, Julia was involved in launching and developing the program from its start and, in just first year of the program, more than 100,000 fourth-graders redeemed vouchers for free entry passes to visit national parks across the country. Prior to working at NPS headquarters, she served as senior vice president for grants and programs at the National Park Foundation, where she and her team helped bring millions of dollars in cash and in-kind services to parks and their partners. Washburn began her career with the NPS in 1989 as a park ranger at Fort Dupont Park in the District of Columbia. She later worked at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, W.Va., and at Rock Creek Park, where she was chief of resource management, interpretation and education. She has served as co-chair of the NPS’s Education Council; chief architect of the Interpretation and Education Renaissance, a movement to revitalize interpretation and education across the NPS; and as an interpretive planner at the NPS Conservation Study Institute in Woodstock, Vt. “I'm thrilled to be ‘coming home’ to serve as Rock Creek Park superintendent,” Washburn said. “A native Washingtonian, I have loved Rock Creek all my life. I look forward to working with staff, park partners and community members to steward this extraordinary place in the heart of our nation's capital.” Washburn holds a master’s degree in museum education from Bank Street College of Education and is an adjunct professor at The George Washington University. About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 417 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparks |
Last updated: February 23, 2017