The Apex Award (2013) winner Audrey Peterman has been named chair of the Diversity Committee of the National Parks Promotion Council (NPPC). The organization's mission "to   promote America's national parks as one of the world's premier travel destinations . . ." is perfectly matched with Mrs. Peterman's award-winning efforts over the past two decades to promote the parks to Americans of African, Asian and Hispanic descent.

"As Chair of the Committee, my goal is to help the organization's leaders and members connect with a more demographically diverse and younger segment of the population. The NPPC includes many of the concessionaires that operate lodging and amenities in the parks, so they're a natural match for travel planners of color who may not know that the parks have facilities for conventions, banquets, weddings, golf and every conceivable event. The highest grossing segment of the domestic travel business is heritage travel, ($90 billion) and the parks are laden with heritage areas where Americans of color made history," says Peterman. "It's a perfect fit."

The NPPC is committed to " increase visitor appreciation and use of these treasured landscapes and educational resources by enlisting the best of public and private partnerships." Peterman says the committee will connect with the network of racially diverse hikers; climbers; skiers; scuba divers; birders, sailors, scholars and climate experts around the country and bring a wider range of talent and perspectives into the mix.

Peterman and her husband Frank have traveled to more than 170 units of the National Park System from Alaska to Florida and she serves on the boards of multiple non-profit organizations that advocate for the parks. She is co-author of Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells Why Every American Should Care (2009) and Our True Nature: Finding A Zest for Life in the National Park System (2012) available at www.legacyontheland.com.