Miguel A. Vazquez, MPH, FAICP

Miguel A. Vazquez, MPH, FAICP, is an award-winning health equity urban and regional planner with more than 20 years of experience across the public, private, and military sectors. He serves as the Health Equity Urban and Regional Planner at Riverside University Health System–Public Health (RUHS–PH), where he leads efforts to integrate planning, public health, and health equity into community planning, development, and decision-making. At RUHS–PH, Miguel partners with diverse stakeholders to advance healthy community design, active transportation, tobacco control policy, climate resilience, and strategies that address inequities in the built environment. His work bridges urban planning and public health through collaborative, community-centered approaches that elevate the role of residents, artists, public agencies, and non-traditional partners in shaping healthier and more equitable places. Miguel has served in multiple leadership roles within the American Planning Association, including serving as founding Chair of the Arts and Planning Division and, currently, as an Ex-Officio member of the Division Council’s Executive Committee. He is also the immediate past president of the California Planning Roundtable and has chaired the Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership (PHEAL) project. His leadership has been recognized with numerous honors, including the 2018 American Planning Association President’s Award, the 2020 APA California Distinguished Contribution Award, and the 2021 Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. In 2024, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Planners College of Fellows, the highest honor bestowed upon a member of the planning profession. Miguel earned a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health as a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow, with a focus on environmental challenges. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies and Planning from California State University, Northridge. He is a Fellow of the California Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health and the Urban Land Institute’s Health Leaders Network. Guided by a servant leadership philosophy, Miguel mentors emerging professionals and advances planning practices that strengthen health, equity, creativity, and quality of life. Born and raised in Mexico City, he is bilingual in English and Spanish and lives in Riverside, California, with his family. He is also an amateur artist who uses creativity to advance his work in public health, planning, and community well-being.

Back to Members Directory