UNITED STATES PARKOUR ASSOCIATION

USPK Executive Director Transition

2022 OCTOBER 13TH

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Dear friends, members, and partners,

We’re writing to you today to announce that Adam Kozy has resigned effective Thursday, September 1st. 

Kozy joined us in 2020 as an executive director. Since then, he has helped to guide our board in establishing our strategic plan; execute initiatives around parkour certifications, competitions, and insurance; establishing national partnerships; and improve and stabilize our operations and organizational processes. It’s been a pleasure under Kozy’s leadership and direction; and he leaves us in a stronger position. 

Kozy will be taking a hiatus to begin work on writing a book, continue traveling around the world, and contribute leadership to the World Chase Tag community. He will be returning to the United States Parkour Association Board as an independent director. 

At this time, the USPK Board has decided to postpone hiring an executive director until the organization can commit to the paid position. This situation is expected to be temporary.

We’re incredibly grateful for Kozy’s hard work, dedication, and contributions to pushing parkour here in the US. The Board is wishing him the best in this next chapter!

Sincerely,

The United States Parkour Association

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Dear USPK Family,

After much thought, I have decided to step down as Executive Director and (after a small hiatus) transition into a new role as one of its seven current Board Members. This decision was not made lightly, as I have very much enjoyed my work helping USPK refine its mission toward a growth mindset, but I look forward to serving the parkour community in a new capacity and working on new challenges in my personal life. We aim to make the ED position a paid one and one to be filled with some prior expertise in the sporting industry if possible to achieve even greater growth. 

When I took on the position two and half years ago, I did it as a volunteer knowing full well there were some very significant challenges for the parkour community in the midst of COVID; gym closures, encroachment by Gymnastics, rising insurance costs, etc. As a fledgling national governing body (NGB), it’s easy to feel like the new, underfunded kids on the block; a metaphorical David against the Goliaths of the sporting world. But I assure you, many well-established U.S. NGBs (some Olympic heavyweights included) have told us our future as a sport is very bright, and that our super power is parkour’s accessibility. Parkour has always been the blueprint for how to use your body effectively and that is part of what makes it so powerful even outside our own community. 

Our goal at USPK has always been about uniting and highlighting the stellar work the PK community is already doing nationwide, and while we haven’t always done the best job of communicating our progress publicly (the Board is a humble, dedicated bunch), there has been a lot of it! In a few short years we’ve:

  • Revamped our mission, bylaws, and strategic pathways
  • Created the first-of-its-kind PK Anywhere individual insurance coverage
  • Partnered with World Chase Tag and successfully advocated for more female representation
  • United several existing competitive leagues toward a national structure
  • Created basic safety standards for parkour competitions and certifications
  • Released guides to help gyms through COVID
  • Expanded partnerships with other sporting NGBs and nonprofits
  • Hired several new Board members
  • Redesigned our website, adding a ton of community resources
  • Redeveloped our membership system and sign-up process
  • Begun work on industry-changing liability insurance rates for gyms
  • Taken on organization of noncompetitive national parkour events, jams, and workshops

While I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished, there is so much more to be done for the future of parkour and we can’t do it without your help. We are stronger with you. We need PK community members and enthusiasts outside the community with strong marketing and communication skills, event planning experience, and business acumen. Help us move parkour forward by becoming a USPK member!

Thanks for all your trust these past few years! I look forward to training with more of you in the coming ones, and contributing my time and resources as a board member.

 

United We Move,

Adam Kozy