National Park Defender Award

NPCA has established the National Park Defender Award to recognize our corporate partners for their considerable contributions to and in support of our national park conservation work. This annual award, given out during National Park Week, highlights and thanks a partner who goes above and beyond to create lasting impact in park protection, through authentic partnership with NPCA and by educating and empowering their consumers to take action. NPCA is thrilled to recognize our partner, Parks Project, with the inaugural award.

Corporate partnerships play a critical role in NPCA’s work to protect national parks’ resources, including their air, water, wildlife, as well as the important stories they tell. Together, NPCA works with its partners to inspire, engage and empower park champions who will speak up for these incredible places for years to come.

Click here to learn more about NPCA’s corporate partners.

2021 Inaugural Recipient: Parks Project

Parks Project, a vintage-inspired apparel and accessories brand, creates collections of products that promote and protect public lands through givebacks to more than 40 nonprofits, including NPCA. A percentage of the sale of several products directly provide financial resources to NPCA, to carry out our park protection work, from habitat and wildlife restoration to advocacy training and youth education.

Most notably, NPCA collaborated with Parks Project to launch the Defend Parks apparel collection to share the stories of those who work tirelessly to defend our parks – NPCA’s volunteers and staff – while giving back to NPCA on sales of the products to support NPCA’s efforts. Not only did this help raise awareness of the importance of park protection among consumers, it provided them with a call to action to protect our national parks, through a variety of opportunities that were provided through the campaign. Throughout the collaborative outreach, more than 12 million people were reached with the call-to-action to defend America’s parks. View our PSA below:

Click here to learn more about Parks Project and their mission.