Member Spotlight
Angela Brooks, AICP
APA President-Elect Angela Brooks, AICP is the Director of the Illinois office of CSH (formerly known as Corporation for Supportive Housing). Angela will start her term as APA President-Elect in January 2022, and serve as President 2023-24. She currently serves as an APA National Board member and is the Past Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair.
Angela is a talented and passionate community advocate who brings a wealth of expertise in housing development, policy, and implementation across private, public, and nonprofit sectors along with her passion for access to housing and community development.
An active member of APA since graduate school, Brooks has held numerous leadership positions including Past Chair of the Housing and Community Development Division, Vice President of Programs for the Planning and the Black Community Division, Chair of the Diversity Task Force, Newsletter Editor for the Washington Chapter, and co-chair of the Housing Policy Guide. Angela’s previous positions have included:
- Development Manager for the Chicago Housing Authority
- FMHC
- Associate Director of Real Estate Development at Heartland Housing, Chicago
- Mayor’s Office of Housing, Seattle, Washington
- Land Use Administrator, Milton, WA
- Covenant House, New Orleans
- Housing Planner, Martin Luther King County, Washington
A native of Seattle, Angela has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies with a concentration in Housing and Community Development from Jackson State University.
Cynthia Albright, FAICP CUD, GISP
Cynthia Albright, FAICP CUD, GISP is a planner and urban designer with a passion for creating meaningful and positive change in communities through comprehensive investigation and engagement. An expert in spatial software, for over 35 years she has planned and designed award-winning projects, presented, authored, and served as an advisor to clients, community groups, and professional peers. Her work has appeared in international, national, and state publications.
As Senior Principal, Planning & Urban Design with global design and
engineering firm Stantec, Cynthia manages a wide variety of land development,
multimodal transportation, streetscape design, community redevelopment, and
sustainable growth management efforts. She works with spatial software to
create, analyze, and visualize information to achieve award-winning outcomes.
She is a regional leader in using “big data” (GPS location information) to craft
data-driven recommendations for her clients.
A wife, mother, gardener and trail runner, Cynthia has lived in Reno since
1989. APA National and Nevada APA have recognized her work with the Gold Award
for Excellence in Transportation Planning and Planner of the state. Cynthia is a fellow in the American Institute
of Certified Planners and one of 53 AICP certified urban designers in the U.S.
Cynthia has also volunteered on numerous City of Reno boards and commissions for the past 23 years. In May 2018, the City of Reno celebrated its 150th anniversary and selected Cynthia as one of 150 extraordinary individuals to be honored for their significant impact on the community.
Larry Keating, FAICP
Larry Keating, FAICP, is Professor Emeritus at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was in the Department of City and Regional Planning. He has worked for 30+ years with Atlanta low-income neighborhood groups and community development corporations.
He co-founded the Community Design Center of Atlanta in 1977, which he helped to lead for more than 30 years. He has also had a modest consulting practice that has primarily focused on fair housing and other related issues.
Larry’s research and teaching interests include housing economics and policy, fair housing, community development, planning practice, real estate and urban land economics, planning theory, and planning in developing countries.
An active member of the Georgia chapter of the American Planning Association, he has served in numerous capacities on the Board of Directors, including chapter President. He was inducted as a Fellow in the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2006.
Larry has a Ph.D. Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He earned a Master of Architecture – Urban Design from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, as well as a Bachelor of Architecture from the institution.
Cynthia Bowen, FAICP
Cynthia Bowen, FAICP is a Principal and Director of Planning for Rundell Ernstberger Associates (REA). With 25 years of experience as a private practice planner, Cynthia manages complex, multi-disciplinary planning and urban design projects both in the US and abroad.
Her work focuses on land use, economic development, redevelopment and revitalization, transportation, and regulation development. She works with clients, stakeholders, and community leaders to create plans that transform neighborhoods and communities physically, socially, and economically.
She has led projects in the Middle East in the countries of Libya, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. Many of these projects were master plans focused on creating new cities and neighborhoods that were integrated, secure, and contained a mix of jobs, residential, retail, parks, schools, mosques, and gathering areas.
Cynthia served as the President of the American Planning Association from 2017-18 and currently serves on the APA Foundation Fundraiser Committee. She earned a Bachelor degree in City Planning from Ball State University.
Mitzi Barker, FAICP
A tenacious leader whose passion is to accomplish great things by coaching and unleashing the talent and contributions of a team, Mitzi Barker, FAICP has devoted her 45-year career in a mix of public, private, and non-profit employment dedicated to expanding housing choices and conditions, particularly in low-income communities. A resident of Alaska since 1986, Mitzi is well-known in housing and community development circles around the state.
She is recently retired as Director of Planning and Construction for the Rural Community Action Program, known as “RurAL CAP.” She continues to maintain a consulting practice, specializing in serving non-profit organizations with strategic planning, and technical assistance in housing development and rehab.
Career highlights:
- Member, Municipality of Anchorage Planning & Zoning Commission
- Contributing lecturer on community development and planning, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
- Senior planner, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
- Community development director, Municipality of Anchorage
- Housing director, Denver Regional Council of Governments
- Executive director, Denver Emergency Housing Coalition.
Mitzi is past Chair of APA’s Housing & Community Development Division and was instrumental in developing APA's policy guides on Housing and Homelessness. She has served as President of the Alaska Chapter of the American Planning Association, and on APA’s national board of directors where she chaired the Legislative and Policy Committee. In 2004, she was inducted into the AICP College of Fellows, the first Alaskan to be so honored and was named 2012 Planner of the Year by the Alaska Chapter of APA. She is also a charter member of AICP.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Mitzi completed her undergraduate studies at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She earned her Master’s degree in geography and area development from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Martin H. Shukert, FAICP
He earned a Bachelor degree in City Planning from Yale University, and a Master of Architecture from University of California-Berkeley. Marty has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners since 1984, and was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2004. He has been a member of the APA Housing and Community Development Division since its founding.
Adam Nowaczyk
Adam Nowaczyk had a 15-year career as manager and real estate industry professional and certification as a LEED Green Associate when he decided direct his career toward urban planning. A resident of Vienna, Virginia, Adam is currently a student in the Masters in Urban and Regional Planning program at Virginia Tech. He also manages the Facebook page for Virginia Tech's Capital Area Student Planning Association.
Dan Lauber, AICP
Lauber has been interviewed for numerous newspapers, magazines, radio and TV programs including 60 Minutes. He has been recognized with multiple awards for his work in planning, including the Paul Davidoff Award in 1988 for demonstrating a sustained social commitment to advocacy planning in support of the needs of society’s less fortunate members.