Jack Shu

With 29 years service in the California Department of Parks and Recreation, primarily as a Park Superintendent in the Office of Community Involvement, Jack Shu has a mountain of experience creating bridges between communities and parks. In the 1990s he developed outdoor programs that successfully re-integrated formerly incarcerated people into their families and communities. Since 2013 he has led expeditions to the top of Sing Peak in Yosemite National Park to commemorate the legacy of his Chinese ancestry and the cook Tie Sing, after whom the peak is named.

Mr. Shu’s multi-layered relationships make him an ideal advisor to public lands managers and a role model for communities, particularly communities of color. He is a specialist in strategies that assist agencies, organizations and institutions become more inclusive through strategic planning and training; outdoor recreation programs and nature-based community development.

Mr. Shu has been a key part of the evolution of conservation in America for the past 35 years and has helped shaped the movement. He has helped to plan and inform many conferences targeted to the expansion of the conservation constituency. His contributions have influenced the California Institute for Bio-diversity; the US Fish & Wildlife Service NE Region; the NPCA/NPS Mosaic in Motion Diversity Conference, 1997, 1999 & 2000; Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great American Outdoors Conference, 2009; California WIC Conference on community involvement and recreation; California Childhood Obesity Conference, 2005; Changing Resource Based Organizations to Serve Diverse Communities – Texas A& M University ; Diversity Conference on America’s Changing Populations and Implications for Historic Preservation, 2003, and the National Trust for Historic Places Conference 2000.

Mr. Shu’s service has been recognized with numerous awards, including the California Senate Rules Committee award for developing programs to serve youth and families; the Urban Hero Award from People for Parks in Los Angeles and the President’s Award from California Police Activities League.