Idaho Recreation
& Park Association

Neelay Bhatt

Founder & CEO 

Neelay’s career on five continents includes Disney, The Super Bowl, The Olympics, and years of consulting, public speaking and training. He champions “Ideas Worth Spreading” as the curator for TEDxCollegePark, TEDxIndianapolis and TEDxIndianapolisWomen and his service as a trustee for the National Recreation and Park Association sought to ensure “no child was left indoors.”

As the Founder & CEO of Next Practice Partners, he combines inclusion and innovation to help agencies prepare for “what’s next” through planning, training, and technology solutions. Over his 25-year journey, he has trained and coached Olympic Gold Medalists, Indy Car Race Drivers, Oxford Physicists and start up CEOs on telling their story and discovering their WHY. 

His Master and Strategic planning work with Atlanta, Broward County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, San Diego, among others have recommended facility development and infrastructure improvements totaling over $2.5 billion, shaping a more equitable and accessible future for all.

As a first-generation immigrant raised by three women and a father who always showed up, he hopes to model the same for his two kids. These life experiences are woven into his keynotes and training sessions on the power of one, leading with your WHY, the art of storytelling and magical customer service, and have inspired executives, professionals, startups, and students from Charlotte to China and from Switzerland to New Zealand.

Jo Burns Connects

Make life better one connection at a time.

Connection: Magic you can believe in - How Parks and Recreation can bring Social Connectedness to Communities

I’m not lonely, you’re lonely – We must own up to the difficult reality that loneliness and isolation can negatively impact our physical social, emotional, and mental health and take years off our lives. The Surgeon General recently (May 2023) shared their report “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community” and included action items to build social connection in our communities. The good news – parks and recreation are uniquely equipped to improve social infrastructure, build a culture of connection, and create spaces and places for belonging in our communities. It’s imperative for the health of the people in our communities that we take action now. Want to learn more and how we can make it happen? Join us for this cutting-edge discussion.

It Doesn’t Have to be Awkward!

You enter the room, there is a sea of people.  You recognize a few, see some colleagues and even a couple of friends but most are people you don’t know….yet.  Do you A) hide behind the safety and anonymity of your phone, B) make a beeline to your friends you haven’t seen in a while, or C) do you push yourself to the next level and engage in an opportunity to make a new connection. It’s a scary proposition.  If you are ready for option C then this session is for you.  Come engage in and learn some guaranteed techniques to get a connection started, improve your listening skills, get insight on your “next big thing”, and walk away with the potential for a dynamic collaboration opportunity.