2,462 views • posted 03/04/2020 • updated 10/16/2023
Trails are shown to improve health both mentally and physically, yet the healthcare industry and the trails industry rarely work together. There are many reasons for this, such as logistics, bureaucracy, and communication issues. We asked some leading experts how we can begin bridging these gaps.
Presented by:
** This event has passed **
May 14, 2020
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM (Pacific Time) {more time zones}
Cost (RECORDING):
FREE for membersNote:
Closed Captioning is available for this webinar.
Learning Credits are available for this webinar.
This webinar is free. Would you consider a donation to support this webinar?
Continuing the conversation from the 2019 International Trails Symposium (ITS) and Training Institute and our TRAILSLead™ Engaging the Health Community Forum, this webinar will build upon the concepts brought up during the panel discussion. Attending this webinar would will be valuable to those who did and did not attend ITS and this particular forum. This webinar will include a panel of leaders from both the outdoor industry and the health industry, and will be moderated by Mike Passo with American Trails.
The trails industry and the healthcare industry have important overlap. When people have more outdoor opportunities they are healthier both mentally and physically. For this reason it is vital that these two industries have open communication and work together, and advocate together, when it comes to bringing these outdoor opportunities to as many people as possible.
This moderated panel discussion will encourage significant audience questions and interaction as the primary mechanism for discussing these important issues. Invited panelists will respond to questions and encourage further discussion in the hopes of developing tangible policy guidance or best-practice takeaways on the subject being discussed.
This webinar qualifies as a Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) course (via LA CES).
Eva Garcia, Project Manager, Caracara Trails, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC)
Eva joined the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) in 2019 to serve as the on-the-ground project manager for the Caracara Trails, which leverages active tourism and active transportation strategies to improve the health of the region while advancing regional economic development. Prior to RTC, Eva served as a planner for the City of Brownsville, working mainly on bicycle and pedestrian facilities, park improvements, and related programs.
As a lifelong resident of the Valley, Eva is passionate about improving the quality of life in her predominately Latin and low-income community, which is challenged by high rates of obesity and diabetes. An avid volunteer, Eva also founded an earn-a-bike program called the Brownsville Bike Barn and serves with environmental and cultural organizations.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at Brownsville.
Dr. Morgan Green, Pediatrician, Children’s Hospital of Michigan
Loves slow walks on a sunny day, the sound of water crashing on the shoreline and finding local parks with his wife, Tedean, near their home. Morgan is a pediatric hospital medicine doctor who works in Detroit, Michigan. He was trained at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland for residency and Loma Linda University for medical school. A native to southern California, he is learning to adapt to the colder Michigan life. The wonderful friends, family and children he gets to care for makes the transition easier.
The interest in nature as a core component to one’s well-being was taught to him by his mentor Dr. Nooshin Razani. Since 2016, he was mentored by her through the Center for Nature and Health that she founded, and rising leadership within their patient centered programming- SHINE. Staying Healthy in Nature Everyday was a program run through the Oakland Claremont clinic, in partnership with the East Bay Regional Park system, provided lunch and transportation for some of the most vulnerable patient families to explore the natural beauty in the East Bay. Through her example, he was able to see the unique voice healthcare providers can have to uplift exercise, time outdoors and connect families to their local, regional and state park system.
This interest expanded as he took on the program director position for the Emerging Leaders Program, run through the Center for Jackson Hole (commonly referred to as SHIFT) in 2019. Being an alumni of the 2018 cohort, he stayed on as staff through various challenges and was able to develop some incredible programming that brought greater value to the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) and the SHIFT conference. Staying on as director through 2020, the organization as a whole is poised to really grow as they set their focus on advocating for nature as a social determinant of health. The best part of staying involved with the Emerging Leaders Program and SHIFT were the friends he’s made along the way.
This next phase of Morgan’s journey is still developing. As a new attending at Children’s Hospital Michigan, he’s really focusing on showing up for his patient population, instilling hope to sick children and encouragement for worried families. He and Tedean are enjoy their home together while looking for new vegetarian restaurants throughout the city. When the longs winter pass, Morgan hopes to get back into his favorite forms of exercise- swimming and taking the Dawn Treader (his bike road bike) through new trails.
Photo by Shonto Greyeyes.
John Henderson, Executive Director, Park Rx America
John is a Certified Parks and Recreation Executive, city planner, public participation practitioner, arbitrator, and mediator with over 25 years of experience in parks and recreation, including twelve years with the Chicago Park District, where he was Director of Research, Planning, and Evaluation and 14 years with The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission as Research and Evaluation Manager.
Mike Quinn, Retired Nurse Anesthesiologist, Mayo Clinic
Mike Quinn has participated in almost every type of riding there is, and have found it to be the best stress relief in his life. It keeps him in good physical and mental shape. Riding has been an invaluable part of his life. Mike's children have ridden and his son is still an off-road rider. Mike has found riding to be the most family-oriented sport that his family has been involved in. In addition, Mike and his wife have taken part in 2 European Motorcycle Tours encompassing 24 days and most of Europe. These were trips of a lifetime and the best way to see the countryside, as well as experience the environment. Trail riding gives Mike the same pleasure: him and nature along with his personal skills.
Professional History:
Mikaela Randolph, Principal Consultant & Owner, Randolph Consulting Group
Los Angeles, CA
Innovative, Passionate, Change Maker are just a few words to describe Mikaela Randolph. With over 15 years of experience working internationally, nationally, and locally on a variety of public policy issues and strategic communications campaigns. Mikaela has experienced a multitude of success working in all levels of government, non-profit and the private sector. Mikaela is an accomplished public policy expert with a keen ability to translate complex policy issues to multiple audiences. Mikaela has experience working on a variety of issues ranging from land-use, transportation, housing, economic development, and community development.
Mikaela has worked on key transportation issues such as safe routes to school, complete streets, and active transportation challenges with a focus on lower-income communities of color. She believes transportation is the great connector and exploring innovative ways to address the divide and increase access to various means of transportation is critical to ensuring communities thrive. provides technical assistance to communities across the country to assist communities across the country address critical public policy issues and built environment issues. She acknowledges the value of these issues independently but thrives on the opportunity to identify the points of intersection. Mikaela is a skilled facilitator, facilitating national and local coalitions to influence policy change at the national and state level to smaller workgroups or trainings at the local level to assist organizations in navigating complex challenges to achieve their end goals.
Mikaela holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California and Bachelors of Arts degrees in Communication Studies and Urban Studies from Loyola Marymount University. Mikaela resides in Los Angeles, CA with her family.
Mike Passo, Executive Director, American Trails
Marshfield, Wisconsin
Mike Passo is the Executive Director of American Trails. Mike has also served as the Executive Director of the Professional Trailbuilders Association and the owner and operator of a sea kayak outfitter called Elakah Expeditions. Mike has led groups of all backgrounds, ages and abilities on sea kayak expeditions in the San Juan Islands of Washington, Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Mike has conducted an extensive study of outdoor developed areas nationwide to determine the cost implications of construction according to proposed Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and a Congressional study on improving access to outdoor recreational activities on federal land. He has a B.S. in Recreation Resource Management from the University of Wisconsin—Madison, including three years’ coursework in Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering. He has presented on Universal Design and Programming at several national conferences and served on the Board of Directors of American Trails since 2000. His love of the outdoors and his own paraplegia has given him a great interest in the creation of an accessible outdoor environment that does not ruin the characteristics and value of that environment.
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