Park People’s Executive Director, Erika Nikolai, has been honoured with the Distinguished Individual Award from World Urban Parks—an international recognition that celebrates her leadership and the growing national movement Park People has helped build here in Canada.
Why are events in parks important? How do grants fit into Park People’s larger goals for creating change in city parks?
The emerging stream of the Park People Nature Connect Fund provides up to $5,000 to grassroots and registered organizations across Canada that connect people with nature, foster ecological stewardship, and restore urban parks and green spaces.
The scaling stream of the Park People Nature Connect Fund offers up to $20,000 to registered organizations across Canada that connect people with nature while fostering ecological stewardship and restoring urban parks.
Learn more about green social prescribing, an evolving practice that encourages individuals to reestablish connections with nature and one another to enhance their mental, physical, and social wellbeing.
A reflection on the BEING BLACK IN PUBLIC Survey Report, exploring how Black communities experience parks and public spaces, and what fosters joy and belonging.
How do we build a healthier, greener, more joyful Toronto? We start at the park. Discover how communities across the city have transformed their green spaces over the past fifteen years. Then roll up your sleeves and help shape what comes next.
By donating to Park People, you’ll support vibrant parks for everyone.
Lead, Indigenous Placemaking, City of Toronto
Jennifer works in the Indigenous Affairs Office at the City of Toronto and is the Lead for the City’s Indigenous Place Making strategy. She is Plains Cree, Irish and Norwegian and grew up primarily in Alberta and British Columbia, where her family on both sides have hunted, trapped, farmed and lived on the land for generations. Jennifer has a Master’s degree from the University of British Columbia in Community and Regional Planning, where her research and thesis focused primarily on contested public space in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, namely the tension between the area’s large Indigenous population and their use of park space and encroaching gentrification.
Since living in Toronto, she has worked in the NGO sector (Canadian Urban Institute), the provincial government (Municipal Affairs and Housing) and now the City of Toronto. She is excited to be working with Indigenous partners, community members, community organizations and City colleagues to advance Indigenous Place-Making and to enhance the visibility of Indigenous cultural traditions, language and community in the City of Toronto.