Arts & Culture Inclusion Council – Lisa King

Appointed in September 2015, King is the seventh director of Summit Metro Parks and the first woman to lead the park. As director she serves as the chief executive and chief financial officer, leading the organization to ensure achievement of its mission, financial viability, growth, and stability. 

An employee since 1998, King has also served as the park district’s landscape architect and its chief of planning and development. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University, a state-registered landscape architect, a champion of sustainable design, and a certified parks and recreation professional through the National Recreation and Park Association.

Summit Metro Parks is known as a special park district organized under Chapter 1545 of the Ohio Revised Code as a metropolitan park district and was formed in 1921. Metro Parks is not part of any other local, county, state or Federal government. Funding for the park district is derived primarily from a small real estate property tax levy which makes up 90% of the park district’s budget. This levy is periodically voted on by taxpayers. The current levy is on a nine-year rotation and will next be voted on in 2030.