Jill Wood is founder of Bayou City Play, a group of artists, librarians and therapists, who partner with organizations to support and improve play opportunities for Houston’s children. Bayou City Play has collaborated with public libraries, schools, parks, and hospitals since 2013 to promote the importance of children’s voices and culture through community gatherings and education.

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Jill is founding director of Adventure Play at The Parish School, an outdoor, child-directed after school program in Houston Texas, where she also serves as school librarian.  Established in 2008, Adventure Play is modeled after adventure playgrounds in the United Kingdom and uses the professional approach of playwork to support children’s play. It is one of only a handful of such playgrounds in the United States and the only one based at a school for neurodiverse young people.  

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She is also a regional consultant and speaker for Pop-Up Adventure Play, a UK-based organization that advances the field of playwork through trainings, presentations, research and publication. She serves on the advisory board for the LiiNK Center for Healthy Play at TCU. This past year, she co-founded Free Play Houston, a group of caregivers focused on protecting the right to play in the Houston metro region and is also mom to an amazing 10-year-old, who is the real expert on play in her household.