The City of Vancouver, Washington has approximately 1,000 of staff serving 184,000 residents in a community explicitly and implicitly established as a white-dominant city. Over the past year and a half, the City of Vancouver has been working through a racial equity process with The Center For Equity Inclusion (ceipdx.org.) We are in the process of developing a public equity statement, an equity charter for our Equity Advisory Committee, conducting assessment of employees and community members, and we are beginning to utilize an equity lens in decision-making. In addition, our Management and Leadership Team has been receiving regular training and coaching on racial equity.
With over 25 years of experience, Julie Hannon joined City of Vancouver as the Director of Parks and Recreation on Dec. 3, 2013. Previously, she served as Director and Deputy Director for the City of Modesto, CA (population 210,000) for 13 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Parks and Recreation from Western Illinois University and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Ashford University. Hannon oversees a staff of 44, a $13 million budget and is a hands-on director with experience in grant cultivation and management, managing complex contracts, recreation management, customer service and facilities planning. Hannon’s experience also includes cultivating unique partnerships that help sustain and advance local parks and recreation programs and facilities.