Jo Burns

Jo Burns

MS, CTRS

CO, US
Connector, Speaker, Facilitator ~ Cultivating well-being through Connection, Activity and Nature ~ Yes, you have time!

Jo Burns is the Chief Connection and Collaboration Officer for Jo Burns Connects.  She is widely known for her work bringing together professionals from parks, recreation and public health. She is the co-founder of the Public Health/Parks & Recreation Collaborative of Colorado. Over the past several years the collaborative has focused on common interests and mutual impact areas, such as reducing obesity and chronic illness, increasing opportunities for physical activity, improving access to healthy food and beverage choices, and developing walk-able, liveable communities. Throughout the development and steering of the PHPR Collaborative she has acquired and utilized many collaborative leadership skills and techniques. She has been bringing people together to create "uncommon connections" across disciplines for 7 years. Jo is a Parks & Recreation professional with 20+ years of experience in community, camp, association and higher ed settings, and continues to be a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS). With numerous public speaking engagements, and critically acclaimed workshops, Jo is a recognized expert in parks and public health arenas.

Jo helps organizations be more effective and engaged through connection, collaboration and inspiration.  She is focused on making life better one connection at a time. 

Jo Burns is the Chief Connection and Collaboration Officer for Jo Burns Connects.  She is widely known for her work bringing together professionals from parks, recreation and public health. She is the co-founder of the Public Health/Parks & Recreation Collaborative of Colorado. Over the past several years the collaborative has focused on common interests and mutual impact areas, such as reducing obesity and chronic illness, increasing opportunities for physical activity, improving access to healthy food and beverage choices, and developing walk-able, liveable communities. Throughout the development and steering of the PHPR Collaborative she has acquired and utilized many collaborative leadership skills and techniques. She has been bringing people together to create "uncommon connections" across disciplines for 7 years. Jo is a Parks & Recreation professional with 20+ years of experience in community, camp, association and higher ed settings, and continues to be a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS). With numerous public speaking engagements, and critically acclaimed workshops, Jo is a recognized expert in parks and public health arenas.

Jo helps organizations be more effective and engaged through connection, collaboration and inspiration.  She is focused on making life better one connection at a time. 

Connecting the Dots for Health

Parks and recreation IS an essential dot in the big picture of health. What are Parks & Recreation professionals doing to make sure we are an integral "dot" in the picture both in times of crisis and calm? What connections helped you stay "stronger together"? We'll examine how we are a great fit as part of the overall picture of health for our citizens, our communities and our state? The picture of health looks different for all of us pre and post COVID. Together we can complete the...
HealthAudience ActivityEducational / Informative

Leading with Health in Mind

How does health manifest itself in your programs, special events and daily interactions with patrons? Does it look different now than before our national health crisis? Our ability to demonstrate Park and Recreation's influence on health may be the difference between being considered essential or not. Borrowing methodology from Therapeutic Recreation, Public Health and Health Promotion, you can make the healthy choice the easy choice.  In this session we'll talk about ways to...
Audience ActivityEducational / InformativeTechnical / Specific

My People? Your People? Nope...OUR People!

What's your organization's culture story? Every moment an individual or a family walks through our door or into our park we have an opportunity to welcome, connect and customize their experience.  Each family, individual and group, they are all ALL our people regardless of age, ability, race, gender, sexual orientation, income or home status.  How we choose to share, educate and advocate for our services and programs says a lot about us.  It shows what we value, how we...

Audience ActivityEducational / Informative