Announcing Our new Executive Director
On July 3, 2020, Cordelia Hollingsworth stepped into the role of Executive Director of Parkour Visions. Please read our letters from outgoing ED Caitlin Pontrella and new ED Cordelia Hollingsworth.
Dear Friends of PKV,
As practitioners of parkour, we spend most of our time living behind the jump—practicing our physical skills and honing our mental abilities so that one day we may break that jump. Yet rarely do we talk about what it means to practice parkour beyond the jump: to bring these larger skills of community building, civic engagement, and self-expression beyond our movement and in every aspect of our lives.
For Parkour Visions, the last two and a half years have been both exciting and exhausting as we forged powerful partnerships with local government, local business, and fellow non-profits in order to create new and farther-reaching programs. I believe that there has been an underestimation of the power of parkour to create social change, and we, the Parkour Visions community, can champion this idea into the future—pushing the dialogue on inclusion and access, addressing inequity in urban recreation systems and traditional sports.
...and we are only here today, doing this, because of all of you!
So to every member of our board, volunteer network, and donor community: Thank you for practicing parkour beyond the jump. You helped others build strength by sharing your strength. Thousands of hours volunteered and donations gifted provided the necessary support to not only overcome our challenges as an organization but thrive—providing meaningful experiences for kids and adults.
To every member on the Parkour Visions team: Thank you for teaching others how to practice parkour beyond the jump. Building a community of care requires committed leadership, creativity, and kindness—which you bring to every class and event. Never underestimate the impact that a coach who cares can make.
To everyone in our larger community of students, participants, and passersby: The world around us can sometimes seem unforgiving, with change coming to slow or not at all. It is for this reason that parkour must be shared with more people. Parkour gifts to us a sense of ownership and care for the places we live, expands hope and creativity in the face of insurmountable challenge, and unifies people in their differences through movement.
Today I turn over the reins to someone I greatly admire. Please join me in welcoming Cordelia as the new Executive Director of Parkour Visions. For the last 10 years Cordelia has been a member of our community making an impact as a student, coach, and program director. I am confident that Cordelia's collaborative and engaging leadership approach and commitment to diversity and inclusion will continue to grow our community while amplifying our impact in the face of challenge and change.
I want to personally thank the following people and groups for gifting me with their valuable expertise, trust, and kindness as we navigated PKV through some stormy waters: Christine Larsen and the Larsen Family; Mary Gagliardi; Garrett Moore; Gus Denhard, Dustin Burson, Dustin Carlino, our entire board of directors including Juliet Vong, Joe McSwiney, Eric Jusino, Jason Bay, Zachary Cohn, and Brian (Ox) Tracey; the Parkour Visions staff, the entire Dance Team plus Rebecca Brightly, the Retreat community including Alan and Adam, my partner Don, and of course my huge community of family and friends back home on the east coast.
This is not the end! I’ll be continuing my service with Parkour Visions, joining their Board of Directors and providing continued support and energy in furthering this mission I believe in so much.
Caitlin
Dear PKV community,
A decade ago I stepped into my first parkour class. This was back before PKV had a gym and was still teaching out of a local Crossfit. We crawled, jumped, and vaulted, things I never knew I could do. But what stuck with me the most were the smiling faces of the instructor and students, like they knew the journey I was about to go on, and they were excited to share it with me.
The instant acceptance and camaraderie I experienced in parkour was so different from any of my prior experiences with physical fitness. From that day forward, I became an enthusiastic advocate, convincing many of my friends and family to give it a try.
PKV started in 2007 as an organization committed to sharing the safe and intelligent practice of parkour, back when parkour was still new and fairly unknown. 12 years later King County, in partnership with the Aspen Institute, reported in a massive study on youth sports participation that a whopping 25% of youth in King County wanted to try parkour.
The Parkour Visions community has been instrumental in creating this growing interest and awareness. Through our gyms and outdoor classes, we’ve taught thousands of people their first parkour rolls, climb ups, and wall runs.
When I started parkour, I never imagined the tremendous growth and impact PKV would have over the next decade, let alone all the ways it would enable me to give back to the community—from volunteering, to coaching locally and internationally, to nearly tripling the reach of our afterschool programs as Program Director over the last two years.
I want to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to all of those who have contributed their leadership to PKV, as well as for the years of transformative experiences the entire team provided our community.
I also want to express appreciation and gratitude to Caitlin Pontrella for her service over the last two and a half years. She joined Parkour Visions as Executive Director during a period of serious financial uncertainty and change. She worked closely with the board and staff, inviting feedback from students and community members, in order to restore security, build long term sustainability, and create a shared vision for the future. I am so pleased she will continue providing support and leadership as our new Board President.
‘Parkour vision’ is about using parkour to discover and experience outdoor spaces with a new lens. It teaches us the creative skills to evolve and adapt our practice to any circumstance, physical or mental. As we continue during this pandemic, we need the creativity parkour teaches us now more than ever.
Physical health is foundational to overall well-being. Movement is a human right.
It is critical that movement education and community are accessible to everyone beyond the barriers of cost, ability, time, and geography. This year we will continue in our commitment to providing more free classes, low-cost camps, school support programs, and online learning.
Parkour Visions belongs to all of us, to all of you. As Executive Director, I promise that I will hear your ideas and work with you to strengthen our impact in our local communities and abroad.
I would love to hear your feedback. Please feel free to open up a conversation with me and share your questions, concerns, and ideas at Cordelia@ParkourVisions.org.
Your partner in play,
Cordelia Hollingsworth
