Health & Wellness Edition: New president and CEO of Houston Parks Board talks about future vision for the city's landscape

Justin Schultz was selected as the new President and CEO of the Houston Parks Board in October after the former head of the nonprofit, Beth White, announced her retirement.

Schultz joined the board in 2022 and served as the chief planning and strategy officer for two years before he was promoted to chief program officer. He has overseen the organization’s capital projects, land acquisition and conservation work, as well as led the strategic planning process.

Schultz assumed his new role as CEO on Jan. 1.

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Community Impact sat down with Schultz for a Q&A about his short- and long-term priorities for the organization, as well as how he plans to lead with sustainability, private funding and community preferences in mind.

What will be your first 6-12 months’ priorities?

We are working on building 50 new miles of trails to add to our 156 miles that already exist in the Bayou Greenways system. We are working on renovating 25 neighborhood parks throughout the city of Houston, and then also making improvements to a couple of regional parks. So I want to continue to make progress on our neighborhood park program and complete those larger projects.

How will you balance major, large-scale projects with the needs of smaller neighborhood parks?

We are really lucky at HPB that our entire staff is multifaceted and can pivot from one type of project to another. In the morning, we might be talking about how we are going to improve a tennis court at one of our neighborhood parks, and in the afternoon, be at a 158-acre site thinking about building a whole new complex. Having that diversity in our work is really part of the drive that keeps us going.

Why are resilience and sustainability crucial to new park and trail designs in Houston?

This is an issue that we have to deal with existentially as a community, so we are always looking at a couple of different things. One, how do we add shade to the parks? We want people to be able to enjoy a park all year, so that means adding shade to our playgrounds and adding trees, which also helps with the heat island impact. Another thing is that we are always trying to create multi-benefit parks, which provide recreation to the community, but also mitigate and help protect against flooding. The other thing we think about is accessibility.

What is your plan for engaging local residents in planning and prioritization?

For every single project that we do, those projects start with community engagement. We go out into the community, we understand what they want in their community parks and in their regional parks, in trails that go through or near their communities, and we shape and design those projects to meet their objectives. It’s up to the individual community members to tell us what they want. Talking to the community helps us design better parks.

How does HPB plan to secure funding through private and public partnerships in the future?

We’re in the top five in terms of our philanthropic community and private donations to parks. That said, we know that our public sector partners have tight budgets, so one of the things we do at HPB is try to make everyone understand the value of parks. We continue to raise the profile, the importance and the value to help secure the appropriate public funding while continuing to show the private sector that parks are worth their investment.

What is your long-term vision for Houston’s parks and greenways over the next 5-10 years?

I want to keep building out the system. I believe that whether you live in Aldine or Spring Branch, you should be able to travel to any other part of the city without being on the street or in a vehicle. Investing in parks and making sure that they are beautiful and useful is really important. I believe Houston should be the greenest city, and that it can be. Every day, that’s what motivates me.