2023 Excellence in Cooperating Association Partnership Awards

The Excellence in Cooperating Association Partnership Award recognizes an individual who has made significant and lasting contributions throughout their career to strengthen partnerships between the National Park Service and cooperating associations.

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Duration:1 minute, 37 seconds

Laurel Rematore accepts the 2023 Excellence in Cooperating Association Partnership Award.

Smokies Life

Laurel Rematore serves as the CEO of Smokies Life, the cooperating association for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In addition to her current role, Ms. Rematore served the cooperating association community in numerous leadership roles including with the Yosemite Association; Mesa Verde Museum Association; Peaks, Plateaus, and Canyons Association, and Public Lands Alliance. Some of Smokies Life's most notable achievements under Ms. Rematore’s leadership include:

a diverse, compensated publications advisory committee to review book proposals, provide sensitivity reading, and advise the publication branch;

the Smokies Media Studio, a creative services collective producing park media products on an in-kind basis;

an interdisciplinary team to develop and produce a new immersive, audience-centered Junior Ranger booklet;

launch of the Park it Forward initiative that designed parking tags, parking tag marketing material for hospitality partners, and organized sale of parking tags through retail venues;

increased capacity of limited interpretive ranger staff through daily Smokies Life staffing of visitor information desks at the park’s two busiest visitor centers;

cultivation of a four-partner dynamic with Great Smoky National Park and Smokies Life, Friends of the Smokies, Discover Life in America, and Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont;

rebranding of the organization and its membership program, including a new organization name and logo;

an employee/retiree relief fund in the aftermath of a fire that devastated a gateway community where many park and Smokies Life staff live; and

carried staff and board members through a multi-year strategic planning process resulting in measurable improvement in core performance areas.

Past Smokies Life Board Chair Mitch Crisp says of Ms. Rematore, “she has championed an inclusive team culture, encouraged open communication, valued diverse perspectives, and fostered strong, collaborative relationships between all the park’s partners. Under her direction, Smokies Life’s retail, wholesale, membership, and publishing programs have flourished, enriching the visitor experience for millions.”

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Monique VanLandingham accepts the 2023 Excellence in Cooperating Association Partnership Award.

Monique VanLandingham

National Park Service Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers Directorate

Monique VanLandingham served as the National Park Service Program Manager for Cooperating Associations from 2012 to 2022. In the span of 10 years, Ms. VanLandingham shaped the future of cooperating association partnerships within both the National Park Service and cooperating associations by collaborating with regional cooperating association managers to make improvements to training, planning, policy and guidance, and business practices. Some of Ms. VanLandingham’s most notable contributions to cooperating association partnerships include:

a detailed resource manual for cooperating association management,

a series of classroom and online training opportunities,

promotion of park annual cooperating association operating plans,

documentation of park and cooperating association intellectual property,

implementation of a new 10-year Cooperating Association Standard Agreement,

expanded scope of sales items, and

support through and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms. VanLandingham’s contributions significantly strengthened relationships between parks, regional offices, cooperating associations, and the Public Lands Alliance. She facilitated collaborative creation of best practices and guidance that maximizes partnerships benefits and potential in sustainable ways.

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