George Ivey graduated from NC State in 2021 with a master’s degree in parks, recreation, tourism and sport management. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Duke University. He now serves as the North Carolina development director for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, working out of the foundation’s Asheville, North Carolina office.
The Blue Ridge Parkway experienced unprecedented damage as a result of Hurricane Helene, and Ivey has been on the frontline of recovery efforts. “I’m truly grateful to every person from near and far who has donated time or money to support the recovery efforts, not just for the Parkway and Parkway communities, but for every person and place affected by Hurricane Helene,” he said. “The needs are widespread and significant.”
We recently spoke with Ivey to learn more about his passion for parks and recreation and how the College of Natural Resources prepared him for his career. Check out the Q&A below.
What is a typical day in your job like?
I don’t have a typical day, which is part of the appeal. I love variety. My work primarily involves community relations, fundraising and project management. I wish I could tell you that I am out on the Parkway almost every day, but you’re much more likely to find me in my office writing or editing a grant proposal, at a chamber of commerce event or other community gathering, or in a little rectangular box on a Zoom call with other staff or partners as we hammer out the details of a new project.
My major focus right now is our Blue Ridge Rising initiative to bring together community leaders from the 29 counties in North Carolina and Virginia that host the Blue Ridge Parkway and most of its 16 million annual visitors. The Parkway, its visitors, and its gateway communities are really interdependent, and this project helps us strengthen those relationships and realize our greater potential. We recently spent a year hosting three dozen listening sessions to develop an action plan to advance travel, tourism and outdoor recreation. Right now, I am spending most of my time raising funds to implement that plan.
I also help raise funds for various projects to enhance the Parkway and the visitor experience and for our two other major initiatives, the Kids in Parks program, which encourages kids and families to hit the trails at more than 300 sites in 18 states and Washington, D.C., and the Blue Ridge Music Center, which celebrates the living tradition of American roots music in the Blue Ridge mountains through its museum, live concerts and other programming.
What inspired you to study parks, recreation and tourism management?
Parks and recreation have always been part of my life, from growing up a mile through the woods from the Blue Ridge Parkway to riding tens of thousands of miles on my road bicycle to my more recent interest in birding. A couple of my previous jobs were parks-focused, too. But I never had any formal training on these topics, and I felt like my learning gap was limiting my potential to be effective in my job, as well as my potential to advance my career. One of my coworkers had graduated from the online Master of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Sport Management (MPRTSM) degree program at NC State, and it sounded exactly like what I was looking for.
How did the college prepare you for your current position?
When I brainstorm with my coworkers and community partners on the best way to address a particular challenge or opportunity, I really need to look at everything from multiple angles. The online MPRTSM program helped me do just that, thanks to its targeted courses on topics like fiscal management, risk management, marketing, and leadership and organizational behavior. That training helps me create more realistic project budgets for grant proposals. It helps me develop better ways to market the project to potential partners and funders. I really appreciate how practical these courses are and how often I can put my knowledge to work.
The initial course on “conceptual foundations” was more philosophical in nature, as we pondered questions like, “What is recreation?” It’s such a simple question, with so many possible answers. That course helped stretch my brain in different ways, giving me a greater understanding and appreciation of how different people interact with the world around them. Those considerations are very important when we think about how to attract and serve a wide range of Parkway corridor visitors with interests as diverse as hiking, Native American history, live music, and great food – sometimes all within the same carload of people. It also makes it hard to determine, for example, what to include (or not include) on a regional calendar of events, but at least we are asking the right questions.
What impact are you making through your position?
My primary duty boils down to connecting generous individuals and institutions with talented partners and great projects throughout the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor: educating children, improving trails, restoring historic buildings, enhancing economic development, conserving land and rare species, and much more. I gain great satisfaction from connecting those dots in meaningful ways, helping to deliver millions of dollars each year to help the Parkway, Parkway visitors and neighboring communities.
Hurricane Helene has, of course, wreaked havoc on a significant portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor, with fallen trees and floodwaters destroying lives and livelihoods. The Blue Ridge Parkway has seen unprecedented damage, including tens of thousands of trees across the roadway and nearly three dozen rock and mudslides. The roadbed has been damaged or swept away in numerous places.
Understandably, the entire Parkway was closed for two weeks during initial damage assessments and clean up. As of early November, most of the North Carolina portion was still closed for ongoing recovery efforts and visitor safety, and many gateway communities have experienced additional economic hardship due to the loss of visitors and visitor spending. We have also heard from people who simply miss the restorative powers of time spent in natural places like those along the Blue Ridge Parkway, especially during a period of significant stress and turmoil.
What advice do you have for current College of Natural Resources students?
Routinely ask yourself, “Who’s missing? Why? What can I do about it?” I believe strongly in engaging the full diversity of people in order to hear different perspectives and develop the best solutions, and to ensure that everyone who wants to participate is being welcomed, served and supported. This approach can apply to your teachers, classroom, staff, participants, audiences and more. As with a natural ecosystem, greater diversity tends to support both long-term health and resiliency.
Balance your studies with “real-world” experience. Learn from both. That’s a great strength of the online MPRTSM program. Because most of the students are also working professionals, they can use their work experience to inform their studies and also apply their studies to their work. If you are an undergraduate or otherwise in school full-time, make sure to get out to parks or natural areas to see how people are interacting with nature or park infrastructure. Ask yourself, “What is working or not working?” You might also consider joining a sports league to see things from a player’s perspective. Try out a new recreational activity and ask yourself if you are getting the support you need to enjoy it; if not, what would you change? However you do it, find some way to immerse yourself in some of the topics you are studying, and learn by doing.
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