Elmhurst Park District commissioner elected trustee of statewide association

Carolyn Ubriaco, commissioner of the Elmhurst Park District, recently was elected to the Illinois Association of Park Districts’ Board of Trustees.

As an IAPD trustee, Ubriaco will assist the association with its mission of advancing Illinois park districts, forest preserves, conservation, recreation and special recreation agencies in their ability to preserve natural resources and improve the quality of life for all people in Illinois, according to a news release. She will work with the 19-member board to advise the association in providing service, research, advocacy, public awareness and educational programs to its membership of 360 park, recreation and conservation agencies and almost 100 affiliated business partners.

“Carolyn has had two successful decades as a commissioner of the Elmhurst Park District,” Peter Murphy, IAPD president and CEO, said in the release. “Her expertise and enthusiasm are just a couple of her many remarkable attributes that make her an outstanding addition to the IAPD Board of Trustees.”

Ubriaco serves on the IAPD Program Committee and the IAPD/IPRA Joint Legislative and Joint Editorial Committees.

She was elected to the Elmhurst Park District’s Board of Commissioners in 2003, and has served as president and vice president during her tenure. During her recent term on the board, the Elmhurst Park District acquired and developed the almost 3-acre Centennial Adult Center and playground and expanded Glos Park, nearly doubling the downtown park area. During her term as board president, Elmhurst Pick subdivision voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to become part of the Elmhurst Park District, which extended district boundaries to include all of incorporated Elmhurst.

Ubriaco has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

IAPD was established in 1928 and is the oldest state association for parks, recreation and conservation in America. The association serves more than 2,100 elected park, recreation and forest preserve district board members who govern 360 agencies employing more than 67,000 individuals.

IAPD strives to improve Illinois’ quality of life through park districts, forest preserves, conservation and recreation agencies by establishing grants and other new revenue streams for park land, facilities and services; educating the public about the positive effects parks and recreation have on communities; and meeting the problem of decreasing open space in Illinois.