Speakers

Mark has a Bachelors and Master in Health, Fitness and Recreation Administration.

Mark has been in the parks and recreation field for 30 years.  Fifteen of those years with the State of Tennessee in the Recreation Services Division of the Department of Environment and Conservation which was a sister agency of TN State Parks.  He served three years as Assistant Director and seven more of those 15 years as Director of the Division.

He was also Assistant Director and Director for 10 years with the City of Clarksville, TN

He is now into his seventh year with the City of Leander TX as Director of Parks and Recreation

He is married with three adult children, two young men who live in TN and a daughter and her family that lives here in Leander. He loves to walk/hike; fly fish, kayak, just being outdoors is his happy place, especially in a park or natural area.

Katelyn Scheetz is pursuing a masters in Environment, Development and Peace with a focus in Sustainable Food Systems from the University for Peace (UN Charter University) in Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica. She currently manages health equity projects at the National Center for Farmworker Health and volunteers with various food and farming organizations around Austin. She previously worked for 4H Capital in Austin, Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut, and the Food Trust in Philadelphia, building out sustainable agriculture and nutrition programs in schools and community centers. Katelyn holds a bachelor's degree in International Studies, and a minor in Environmental Studies from the College of Charleston, South Carolina, a permaculture design certificate from Hundred Fruit Farm in New Hope, PA, is a certified master gardener, and currently pursues sustainable agriculture classes at Austin Community College. She was a previous Rotary Exchange Student in Palermo, Italy, and has studied at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. She looks forward to using these skills and continuing to build on them in order to build healthier, more sustainable communities and thriving economies.