Oak Brook IL - The American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA), in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), is pleased to announce Oak Brook Park District as a finalist for the 2025 National Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.
Founded in 1965, the Gold Medal Awards program honors park and recreation agencies in the United States and military installations worldwide that demonstrate excellence in parks and recreation through long range planning, resource management, volunteerism, environmental stewardship, program development, professional development and community engagement. Applicants are placed into six (6) classes, with five classes based on population and one class for armed forces installations.
A panel of five park and recreation professionals, representing differing governmental agencies, size, and geographic area, reviewed and judged all application materials. Judges are chosen due to their considerable experience in managing park and recreation agencies and their knowledge of parks and recreation on the local, state, and national levels. Oak Brook Park District is a finalist in the Class V Category (population less than 30,000), alongside the Glencoe Park District (IL), Incorporated County of Los Alamos (NM), and Valley City Parks and Recreation (ND). The Finalist and Grand Plaque Awards will be presented at the NRPA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida in September 2025.
“We are absolutely honored and humbled by this recognition,” said Laure Kosey, Oak Brook Park District Executive Director. “This has truly been an ongoing team effort and I could not be prouder of our staff. They deliver excellence in everything they do.”
The Oak Brook Park District was named a National Recreation and Park Association Gold Medal Award Winning Agency in 2015 and was named a finalist in 2023 and 2024.
For more information on the Gold Medal Awards, visit www.nrpa.org/goldmedal
or www.aapra.org
For more information, contact:
Haley Colucci
Supt. of Marketing & Communications
Oak Brook Park District
(630) 645-9539
hcolucci@obparks.org
