Identifying Innovative Financing Models to Benefit Public Parks | FUSE

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Indy Parks, the agency responsible for managing parks and recreation in Indianapolis, partnered with FUSE Executive Fellow Demetrius Glover to identify new funding opportunities for the city’s park spaces.

Demetrius collaborated with the Mayor’s Office and Indy Parks leadership to vet high-level financing strategies for urban parks systems. Part of this work involved conducting a budgetary needs study of Indy Parks. That study, coupled with in-depth research, led to the recommendation of 10 fundraising strategies for public financing mechanisms to increase revenue flow to Indy Parks. These strategies include public-private partnerships, advocating for state policy changes that allow for more innovative financing by large metropolitan cities, and seeking philanthropic matching dollars for significant increases in public investment in parks. Indy Parks is moving forward with five of the recommendations, some of which are currently being implemented. Successful execution of these strategies could significantly increase Indy Parks’ revenue and enable the agency to expand and revitalize the city’s park system for the benefit of all residents and visitors.

DEMETRIUS GLOVER (2017-18) has provided leadership in the corporate, government, academic, and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, he served as vice president of strategic information at United Way of Central Indiana, where he led interdisciplinary research projects to develop data-driven solutions to organization-wide challenges. Demetrius has held positions at Indiana University, Notre Dame University, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Schumacher Clinical Partners, Saturn Research Institute, and Lafayette Consolidated Government. He earned a B.A. in history from the University of Southern California, and an M.A. and Ph.D in history from Purdue University.

Demetrius Glover

2017-2018 | City of Indianapolis - Parks and Recreation Department

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Indiana , Midwest