Columbus Recreation and Parks Director Bernita A. Reese announced Morgen Wade as the department’s newest deputy director of Capital and Strategic Planning, according to an official bulletin dated Oct. 28, 2026. Reese said Wade and her team will handle long-range planning, investment and care for Columbus parks, trails, facilities and public spaces. Wade’s oversight areas also include Design and Construction, Data, GIS and Property Management, Reese said.
Wade joined the department in 2019. According to Reese, she has helped shape the Capital Improvement Plan and Budget, obtain grant money for park and facility improvements, and move forward strategic and land-planning work. Wade co-led the 2019-2024 Mission Forward Strategic Plan and Playbook Columbus, described as the department’s 2026-2036 vision plan.
Reese also credited Wade with supporting the department’s first CAPRA accreditation process in 2022 and helping develop a COVID-19 recreation program continuity plan in 2020. Before City employment, Wade spent more than a decade at Homeport, a central Ohio nonprofit affordable housing organization, working in grants management, strategic planning, program evaluation, volunteer engagement and neighborhood initiatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Otterbein University and has completed graduate coursework in public administration and city and regional planning, Reese said.