Corky Mayo Receives 2008 Sequoia Award

Charles “Corky” Mayo is richly deserving of this highest recognition given by the National Park Service for interpretation and education. Corky’s work has had positive Servicewide impact that will make a lasting contribution to the profession. He has helped strengthen the profession by supporting and developing multiple new applications and expanding the scope of others. During his tenure as WASO Chief of Interpretation and Education, 1992 to the present, Corky has been an enthusiastic, effective, and ever-optimistic advocate. Corky has helped revitalize the profession by: releasing others’ creativity; funding new efforts; developing new systems; and demonstrating his personal example. With obvious joy and commitment, he has labored mightily to ensure the program has evolved in ability, standards, and stature. Corky is always willing to, under the radar or standing tall and obvious, fight for Interpretation and Education. He has won many battles as is evidenced by improved professional skills, morale, and services for the public.

One of Corky’s greatest talents is his ability to identify creative individuals, good and innovative ideas, and potentially important programs. One of his first efforts as Chief was the Interpretive ( R ) evolution. This effort began in 1993 with a meeting of interpretation and education leaders from around the country. Corky brought them together to begin a new era and new thinking for Interpretation and Education.  He held a similar meeting, Connecting People to Parks a few years later. Together the two efforts created the Comprehensive Interpretive Planning Process, Compelling Stories, the implementation of Ranger Careers, the Interpretive Development Program, and other key initiatives. Even later, Corky played a leadership role with the National Education Council. He co-wrote the Interpretation and Education Business Plan, and the Interpretation and Education Renaissance Action Plan. He is a huge proponent of the five tenants and travelled to most regional interpretation and education meetings in the last year to interact with interpreters and promote the concepts. Interacting with practitioners is important to Corky. He has personally planned and coordinated more than twenty training courses. At each course, Corky provides opportunities for individuals to excel, learn, and contribute more to the field. Corky is willing to embrace the new. He is tremendously supportive of communicating with new technologies. He understands that people are accessing information and making community in entirely new ways. He was an initial supporter of Parknet, has invested in and championed Webrangers and  Jr. Rangers. Corky was also an early supporter of the Distance Learning Platform.

Corky also supports people, ideas, and programs with creative funding. The Interpretive Development Program is a good example. In 1993, the ( R ) evolution  suggested Learning and Development update the Interpretive Skills Program. Corky funded the meetings and approved the recommendations. The result was an entirely re-conceived approach to learning based on competencies. A curriculum was developed, the Peer Review Certification Program launched, and interpreters began to share a language and standards that had never existed before. Today, that effort is evolving with the Distance Learning Platform and the newly launched Coaching Network. Corky supported it all, every step of the way with policy, guidance, and leadership. He funded more than half the courses and meetings over more than a decade. Another example is the Historic Weapons Program. Corky secured 1.5 million dollars to correct safety deficiencies replace worn-out equipment and develop an improved training curriculum. He managed the increase in Centennial funding which gave the NPS, among other things, 1,000 new seasonal interpreters and 44 volunteer coordinators. He recognized the need for good professional literature and found ways to fund and publish Meaningful Interpretation: How to Connect Hearts and Minds to Places, Objects, and Other Resources and Handles: A Compendium of Interpretative Techniques.  Corky also instituted and oversaw new grant program with the National Park Foundation for Jr. Ranger Programs and Transportation Interns. Interestingly, a number of the individuals involved with these projects have already won Sequoia Awards—but could not have done so without Corky’s support.

Corky knows that long-term and strategic success requires systems that can sustain that success. He oversaw the development and writing of Director’s Order 6 on Interpretation and Education. This resulted in a vastly improved set of policies and guidelines for Interpretation and Education, for the Volunteer In Parks, the Cooperating Assocation, and the Historic Weapons programs. Corky supported and oversaw the introduction, development, and evolution of the Comprehensive Interpretative Planning Process—a key component of professional programming. Corky oversaw a comprehensive survey of the VIP project that provided unprecedented feedback on the strengths and needed improvements to the program. For the last year, he has been devoted to the creation and integration of an interpretive media element into the FMSS program. Once complete, this system will allow Interpretation and Education media to compete for significant amounts of funding that were previously unavailable.

All of this will be part of Corky’s legacy. But the element that is perhaps most important and influential is his personal influence on numerous individuals. Corky’s personal enthusiasm, accessibility, receptivity, willingness to invest in people is really quite powerful. He is greatly admired and appreciated for his personal touch.  Always mindful of how employees and visitors are affected by the organization—Corky works to translate the system into something real and meaningful.  His great gift is to meld the personal touch with practical pragmatic support. As noted, if someone has a great idea, he finds the money to make it happen. If a new program is proposed, he finds the means to make it happen in a sustainable way. While Corky has had a long lasting effect on the profession through the systems he created and funded, his influence is probably even more significant in ways he doesn’t realize--the personal example he sets with his boundless enthusiasm for interpretation and interpreters. He is an admired model for hundreds who pick up on his optimism and high energy. He raises morale and inspires others just in the way he answers his phone and returns email (He always said he answered field questions before he turned to his boss). Corky will leave a legacy—the Corky years will live on in myriad obvious and subtle ways. He has had a profound and lasting effect on the profession in ways that will long endure in the history of the NPS.