WSB-TV Channel 2, a Cox Enterprises company, and The Trust for Public Land named Isabel González Whitaker as Atlanta's 2018 Cox Conserves Hero. Park Pride, González Whitaker's nonprofit beneficiary, will receive $10,000 as part of her recognition for this award. A local judging panel chose González Whitaker from several outstanding candidates nominated by the public.

The Cox Conserves Heroes program is celebrating 10 years of recognizing community members who work tirelessly to create, preserve or enhance outdoor spaces. The program honors standout environmental volunteers to help further their cause with a $10,000 donation to their nonprofit of choice. Now González Whitaker will compete with the winners from local markets in Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington to be the National Cox Conserves Hero. The national winner will be awarded the grand prize of an additional $50,000 for their nonprofit of choice.

González Whitaker was looking for a way to honor her recently deceased mother, a Cuban immigrant and leader in Georgia's Hispanic community, when she discovered Coronet Way Park on the border of Atlanta's Bolton Corridor. The park was available for renaming, and González Whitaker saw potential to refresh and revitalize the space. Leading the entire initiative, González Whitaker assembled a committee of neighbors and community leaders to determine the design of the park, organized volunteer work days and raised over $270,000 in private funds. Sara J. González Park, the first park in Georgia named after a Latino, now serves as a Hispanic cultural beacon and a safe, inclusive community space that fulfills a need in an area with little public greenspace.

"My mother loved children," said González Whitaker. "She was driven to connect with and help others. She believed in giving a voice to the voiceless. You may not be able to hear her voice at this park, but you can feel her presence and experience her core values firsthand: community, family, diversity."