Juan Carlos Acevedo

Juan Carlos Acevedo, has 19 years of experience creating, developing, and marketing leisure programs, activities, and events to diverse communities. Originally from Mexico, became interested in Parks and Recreation while working as a Research Coordinator at the Diversity Research Lab at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign as an undergrad. He has led several research projects in various park districts around the Chicago metro area, leading various publications in leisure, park, and recreation journals, and was co-principal investigator in a grant by the Robert Wood John Foundation (Salud America! program). Juan Carlos is finishing his Ph.D. in Parks and Recreation at the University of Illinois with a focus on finding creative ways park and recreation agencies can provide services to ALL members of their communities.

Juan Carlos has also worked as a program and events manager for 7 years at the University of Illinois and, since 2016, has been the Superintendent of Marketing and Communications at the Wheeling Park District. He is also an instructor, on a contract basis, with the Recreation, Sport and Tourism Department and has been invited to many local, state, and national conferences in the US, Mexico, and Canada.

Juan Carlos has become well-versed in marketing, market/community needs assessments, social and digital media management, and developing programs for diverse communities. He has been married for 9 years to Liliana and has two beautiful children (Carlos, 7, and Emma, 1). As a family, they work together to grow the park and recreation field in our amazing communities! More about Juan Carlos https://juanacevedo.com/.