Alan Spears is the Senior Director for Cultural Resources for the National Park Conservation Association. Alan uses real-life stories and a conversational style to connect with his audiences to promote NPCA’s advocacy and the critical role the National Park Service plays in protecting, interpreting and managing this nation’s historic and cultural resources. A veteran advocate and member of the Government Affairs department, Alan leads community outreach and legislative engagement on a variety of park protection issues.
Recent victories include joining with NPCA colleagues, partners and allies to win the designation of the Fort Monroe, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad, Colonel Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers, Pullman, and Birmingham Civil Rights National Monuments. Alan’s current efforts include National Heritage Area program defense, serving as NPCA’s lead coordinator for the Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools national park designation campaign, and work in Mississippi to create a new national park site commemorating the legacy of Emmett Till, Mamie Till-Mobley, and the foot soldiers of the Mississippi civil rights movement.
He remains the only NPCA staff person ever to be rescued from a tidal marsh by a Park Police helicopter.
