Rosalynn Hughey

Rosalynn Hughey serves as Deputy City Manager for the City of San José. She provides leadership and coordination for city offices shaping the future of the City—including planning, housing, transportation, economic development, and cultural affairs. Building on her expertise in urban planning, Rosalynn’s career has centered in city building, civic engagement, and “leading with people.” Rosalynn has also served the City of San José as Assistant Director and Director of the Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement.

Prior to joining the City of San José in 2014, Rosalynn was Deputy Director for the Washington, D.C. Office of Planning. She is a member of the American Planning Association and serves on several boards including the Urban Land Institute, San Francisco; American Leadership Forum, Silicon Valley; WeHOPE; and SPUR San José.

Andrea Ouse, AICP

“Being a facilitator in the CPR Leadership Academy for the past two years has been one of the most rewarding activities of my career. The structure and content of the Leadership Academy is so effective because it isn’t strictly focused on planning. Instead, it focuses both on the participant and the facilitator to look inward, to assess the type of leader we can be, and what decisions we can make in our everyday lives to further that objective. It’s truly a valuable program and allows participants to form crucial relationships within their cohorts while also providing an opportunity to learn from established leaders in our profession. As President-Elect of APA California and as a member of the California Planning Roundtable, I am proud to partner with both organizations to grow this unique and effective Leadership Academy.”

Andrea Ouse, AICP joined the City of West Sacramento as the Director of Community Development in August 2021. In her current capacity, Andrea oversees the City’s Planning, Building, Development Engineering, Transportation, Environmental Services and Sustainability, and Code Enforcement functions.Her career has been focused on local government as a planning and community development professional, and she has worked for a number of diverse communities in Northern California throughout her career. In addition, she was a Principal with LSA Associates, Inc., an environmental and contract planning firm.

Andrea is currently the President of the American Planning Association, California Chapter (APA California) and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. She is also a member of the California Planning Roundtable (CPR), and is serving her third term as an appointed member of the State Office of Planning and Research’s Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council (ICARP TAC).

Andrea received a Bachelor of Science in City and Regional Planning from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Masters of Public Administration from California State University, East Bay.

Linda F. Tatum, FAICP

Linda is currently the Assistant City Manager for the City of Long Beach. Linda was selected for this position after serving two years as Development Services Director and three years as Planning Manager for the City. Her duties as Director included oversight of physical planning and development in the City through Planning, Building Safety, Code Enforcement, Housing and Neighborhood Services, as well as the Long Beach Community Investment Corporation, which leverages funding for affordable housing development in the community.

Ms. Tatum has a master's in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University and more than 30 years of private and public sector planning experience. Prior to Long Beach she served as the Acting Director of Economic and Community Development and Planning Manager for the City of Inglewood, where she managed redevelopment of the Forum by Madison Square Garden, LLC, and the Hollywood Park Tomorrow project, a 300-acre mixed use project that includes 3,000 residential units, 30 acres of parks, 600,000 sq. ft. of retail and the new state of the art 80,000-seat Sofi football stadium and arena. Linda’s experience includes teaching planning classes at California State Fullerton in the University Extended Education program, seven years as a consultant, and over 20 years in local government in the cities of Inglewood, Culver City and Santa Ana.

Linda is active in her professional organization, where she served on the California Chapter APA Board for more than 10 years as President of the California Planning Foundation, and now serves on the Planning Accreditation Board Site Visit Team, and as a member of the Planning Accreditation Board Accreditation Standards Task Force, the California Planning Roundtable, Planners Emeritus Network, and recently completed service on the national APA Foundation Board of Directors. She was a 2015 Rose Fellow for Public Leadership in Land Use sponsored by Urban Land Institute and the National League of Cities and was inducted into the AICP 2018 Class of Fellows.

Tanisha Taylor

Ms. Taylor was appointed Chief Deputy Director of the California Transportation Commission in May 2020. In this capacity, Ms. Taylor serves as a principal policy advisor to the Commission, responsible for carrying out the Commission’s policies and programs and overseeing its internal operations. Under Ms. Taylor’s leadership the Commission adopted its first anti-racist statement condemning all forms of racism and owning the role transportation plays in structural racism.

Prior to being appointed Chief Deputy, Ms. Taylor previously held positions at the California Association of Councils of Governments (CALCOG) and the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) – one of the eight San Joaquin Valley Metropolitan Planning Organizations. In each of these positions Ms. Taylor was responsible for advocating for the diverse voices of transportation agencies statewide.

Ms. Taylor is the 2015 recipient of the Stockton Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Certificate of Appreciation for her work leading the regional transportation planning process while at the San Joaquin Council of Governments.

Ms. Taylor is a proud graduate of Alabama A & M University, one of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and University.’

William (Bill) Anderson, FAICP

Bill’s focus is comprehensive planning, urban & development economics, and implementation. Bill advises under the dba CITECON and is a lecturer of urban economic development at UCSD. Previously, he was a Principal at Arup; Principal/VP and Director of City Planning at AECOM; and a Senior VP at Economics Research Associates (ERA). His government experience includes Director of City Planning & Community Investment for the City of San Diego; Deputy Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency; and Deputy Chief Operating Officer overseeing Planning, Economic Development, Real Estate Assets, and Development Services. From 1995-2003, he served as a member/chair of San Diego’s Planning Commission. An FAICP, Bill was national President of the 38,000-member American Planning Association from 2013-15. Bill received his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College and master’s in City & Regional Planning from Harvard University.

Ashley Atkinson, AICP

"Since participating in the academy in 2018, I have become more aware of the need for planners to prioritize leadership -- too often, we're focused on our technical skills at the expense of building our ability to manage and lead. I joined the academy as a facilitator to help guide others on the same journey."

Ashley Atkinson was recently named as Director of Asset Management for the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD). She has been with LAHD since 2020 as a manager in the Accessible Housing Program, which monitors more than 900 projects for compliance with the City's fair housing policies for people with disabilities. She also serves as president of the American Planning Association’s California Chapter for 2021-2022, advancing the planning practice for more than 5,000 members statewide. Previously, she led Los Angeles City Planning’s Performance Management Unit, where she developed metrics and training for the nation’s largest planning department based on data analysis and stakeholder input. During Mayor Eric Garcetti’s first term, she served as his Senior Planning & Development Manager, working to achieve priority outcomes including California’s broadest seismic retrofit program and innovative approaches to housing construction. She received her master's degree in Public Administration and Planning from USC's Price School of Public Policy, where she has served as an adjunct instructor since 2018.

Alice Chen

Alice has over 25 years of experience in transportation planning and engineering, and has managed the transportation analysis for environmental impact assessments and worked with cities and counties on their Circulation Elements of General Plans as well as bicycle and pedestrian master plans. Her work addresses the state’s Complete Streets requirements by adopting policies and developing tools, processes, and procedures for implementation, incorporates the Caltrans’ Smart Mobility Framework into state, regional, and local transportation planning practices. She is a certified planner (AICP) with the American Planning Association and a member of the California Planning Roundtable

Ann Cheng

"I am honored to facilitate another Academy cohort where we improve use of our social and emotional brain. This affordable and rare opportunity to learn and build a statewide support network, benefits us professionally and personally. Soft skills can be ironically hard to learn but are needed to #PersistThroughAdversity in promoting the greater good in communities across California."

Ann Cheng is an expert in shifting paradigms to accelerate climate protection and equity with land use and transportation policies. She created www.GreenTRIP.org and a myriad of tech tools like Connect.GreenTRIP.org, recommended for cities to use statewide by the Office of Planning and Research. Ann has a range of experiences over 22 years, as a planner in the public, private, non-profit advocacy sectors and serving as Mayor of her hometown, El Cerrito, California. She launched her consulting practice in 2020 and works with transportation agencies, government and affordable housing developer clients. She sets up projects for success through strategic project design, communications and ensuring the purpose of any effort is accessible to advance trust and collaboration. Her leadership (aka empathy) skills are from the Rockwood Leadership Institute, The Great Valley Center’s Leadership Academy for Elected Officials, the Neuroleadership Institute, and as an executive director of a nonprofit advocacy organization, TransForm. Ann joined the California Planning Roundtable in 2019.

Elaine Costello, FAICP

Elaine Costello, FAICP, has been in leadership positions on major Bay Area planning projects for over 30 years. For 20 years, she has organized an annual session at the APA conference on leadership skills for planners. Facilitating a group for the Leadership Academy allows Elaine to go into greater depth with planners on leadership skills and strategies.

Currently in private practice, Elaine served as the Community Development Director in Mountain View for 15 years and South San Francisco and Belmont before that. She is a Fellow in the American Institute of Certified Planners. Elaine has an undergraduate degree from Vassar College and a graduate degree in urban planning from Columbia University.

Melissa Dugan

"I was motivated by the positive experience I had with the program. I learned so much, and a large part of that was working with the others in my group. I am excited to learn with others again. And of course, my amazing facilitator from my previous academy participation, inspired me!"

Melissa Dugan, AICP, leads the Transportation Planning and Project Development division for the City of Irvine, and has been a member of the transportation industry for more than twenty five years. A graduate of Cal State Long Beach, Melissa served as a consultant to various clients and has worked on a variety of projects, from small development studies to leading multidisciplinary teams through major engineering projects. She is currently responsible for the transportation master planning, preliminary engineering and environmental clearances for all City Improvement Projects. This includes grant applications and funding management for the Public Works and Transportation Department. Since joining the City in 2017, she and her team have made tremendous strides to create a network of healthier roadways, and sustain or improve the quality of life. She oversaw completion of the Strategic Active Transportation Plan for the City in 2020 and is currently working on projects through implementation.

Susan Harden, FAICP

Susan J. Harden, FAICP, CNU-A, LEED AP, has a broad background in community development, engagement, and planning. For over twenty-five years, she has built her career around community-based planning and visioning, striving to create a network of healthier, more livable communities, downtowns, and neighborhoods. She has provided community engagement and planning services to public and private sector clients across the country.

Currently, Susan is a Managing Principal at Circlepoint where she oversees the Communications and Engagement practice. Susan is the co-author of “Placemaking on a Budget”, designed as a handbook for community members to enhance sense of place. Susan was appointed to the California Planning Roundtable in 2012, an organization of experienced planning professionals whose mission is to provide a forum for prominent planners to exercise creativity and leadership. She is a member of the Advisory Board for the Department of Planning & Public Policy at UCI where she also teaches a graduate course on public participation. Susan has also served as a board member of Jamboree Housing, an affordable housing developer, for over ten years and recently joined the Transportation and Traffic Commission in her home City of Laguna Niguel. Prior to her career as a planning and engagement consultant, Susan volunteered with the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa and with the AmeriCorps in Kansas City where she worked for a non-profit involved in local sustainable transportation and environmental justice.

Michael Klein

"I decided to step up to be a facilitator for two reasons, 1) I believe it is critical for our profession to be leaders in the community to help shape our future, and 2) I was I inspired by my experience in the leadership academy a few years ago to become a leader in my organization, which ultimately lead me to my current position. For these reasons, I want to help others succeed in their career as well."

Michael Klein is a Los Angeles native that currently serves as the Community Development Director for the City of Calabasas. In this role, Michael oversees a diverse team of professionals in the Planning, Building and Safety and Code Enforcement Divisions. With more than 18 years of public sector experience, Michael has worked on a variety of current and long-range planning efforts, and spearheaded new programs and initiatives to better serve the community. Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and a Master Degree in Public Administration, with an emphasis on public sector leadership and management, from the California State University of Northridge (CSUN).

Kacey Lizon

Kacey Lizon is Deputy Executive Director of Planning & Programs for the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. In this role, Kacey oversees execution and integration of SACOG’s work plan, including all planning, programming and technical assistance activities. During her 20-year tenure at SACOG, Kacey has played an instrumental role in innovations in integrated regional planning and smart growth planning processes. She has led initiatives in land use, housing, transportation, transit-oriented development, environmental and rural planning. Kacey is a member of the American Planning Association and California Planning Roundtable. She is a Sacramento native and lives there with her husband and two children.

Simran Malhotra

"The Leadership Academy is a wonderful opportunity for early- and mid-career planning professions to learn from each other and other seasoned planners on ways to expand their leadership skills. As a first-generation immigrant, I am committed to expanding diversity in workplace leadership."

Simran Malhotra is a Principal at Raimi + Associates. She has a background in planning, urban design and architecture that allows her to bring a distinctive design perspective to all her work leading to the creation of vibrant, attractive, and thriving places. She has authored plans for many types of urban environments, in particular, TOD/mixed‐use districts, downtowns, historic and residential neighborhoods, commercial corridors, industrial areas, and educational campuses. These efforts have resulted in community‐based planning and urban design innovations that have achieved notable implementation. She is also an acknowledged leader in creating objective design regulations, and her approach serves as a model for efficiently enabling by-right housing without compromising design quality. As a dedicated planning and urban design professional, Ms. Malhotra has demonstrated her leadership in the profession reflected in her many awards, publications, and presentations for a range of organizations.

Simran has a Master of Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India.  She is a current member and the past Vice President of Membership/Operations of the California Planning Roundtable.

Andrea Ouse, AICP

“Being a facilitator in the CPR Leadership Academy for the past two years has been one of the most rewarding activities of my career. The structure and content of the Leadership Academy is so effective because it isn’t strictly focused on planning. Instead, it focuses both on the participant and the facilitator to look inward, to assess the type of leader we can be, and what decisions we can make in our everyday lives to further that objective. It’s truly a valuable program and allows participants to form crucial relationships within their cohorts while also providing an opportunity to learn from established leaders in our profession. As President-Elect of APA California and as a member of the California Planning Roundtable, I am proud to partner with both organizations to grow this unique and effective Leadership Academy.”

Andrea Ouse, AICP joined the City of West Sacramento as the Director of Community Development in August 2021. In her current capacity, Andrea oversees the City’s Planning, Building, Development Engineering, Transportation, Environmental Services and Sustainability, and Code Enforcement functions.Her career has been focused on local government as a planning and community development professional, and she has worked for a number of diverse communities in Northern California throughout her career. In addition, she was a Principal with LSA Associates, Inc., an environmental and contract planning firm.

Andrea is currently the President of the American Planning Association, California Chapter (APA California) and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. She is also a member of the California Planning Roundtable (CPR), and is serving her third term as an appointed member of the State Office of Planning and Research’s Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council (ICARP TAC).

Andrea received a Bachelor of Science in City and Regional Planning from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Masters of Public Administration from California State University, East Bay.

Marc Roberts

Marc Roberts has more than twenty years of experience as a planner and Community Development Director. He was the City Manager for Livermore since 2012 until his retirement in 2022. He has managed a wide variety of transformative land use projects. Roberts was the project manager for the development of the South Livermore Valley Specific Plan, a program that helped revitalize Livermore’s wine country and won a National planning award. As the Community Development Director, he led the team that wrote and implemented the Downtown Specific Plan, a plan that won a National Main Street Award and transformed Livermore’s Downtown through dozens of coordinated private and public projects.

Roberts is a member of the California Planning Roundtable, a policy research and development resource for the California planning profession to enhance the sustainability and livability of California’s communities.

Richard Rojas, AICP

Richard currently serves as the Deputy City Manager for the City of Norwalk. Richard has a variety of experience in community development and planning with experience working in Compton, Carson, San Luis Obispo, and Henderson, NV. He is actively involved in professional associations such as the Planning Association and Urban Land Institute. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Barbara and Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Richard joined the California Planning Roundtable in 2019.

David Salazar, FAICP

David Salazar, a native Angelino, is currently the Executive Director for the Long Beach Community Design Center. He began his career in city planning and has a combined 29 years of facilities planning and design and construction experience in public and private universities and community colleges. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from California State University, Long Beach; a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; an Executive MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School, Claremont Graduate University and studied strategic management at Oxford University and Anahuac University, Mexico.

During David’s employment with the California State University system, he held the positions of Associate Vice President for Physical Planning and Facilities Management at California State University, Long Beach; Director of Campus Planning and Development at California State University, Monterey Bay, and University Facility Planner at the Chancellor’s Office. He has also served as Director of Facilities Management at Claremont Graduate University, Executive Director of Facilities, Planning, and Administrative Services at San Bernardino Community College District, and Chief Facilities Executive for the Los Angeles Community College District.

David is a member of the College of Fellows American Institute of Certified Planners, the American Planning Association, Society of College & University Planners, California Planning Roundtable and Planning Accreditation Board and Planners Emeritus Network. He served as an adjunct faculty member in the Urban and Regional Planning Department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona for several years. He resides in Long Beach, California with his family, where he serves on the Board of Directors of Centro CHA.

Laura Stetson

Laura Stetson’s leadership and award-winning expertise in land use planning and zoning has contributed to the thoughtful revitalization of many cities throughout California. For Laura (AICP), it all started with her fascination for maps and the stories they tell about cities. Understanding the spatial layout of a community and its human impacts enables her to use policy to shape the environment in a positive way. In turn, the policy documents she helps to craft—general plans, specific plans, zoning codes, and CEQA documents—guide positive change for the people in those communities. A self-defined “fixer”, Laura uses her management and facilitation skills to engage clients and stakeholders in collaborative problem-solving. If vision is considered both a starting point and overarching goal for planning, Laura’s strength lies in taking that vision and mapping out the best routes to implementation. She methodically analyzes and synthesizes the potential implications and outcomes associated with policies that regulate not only how land will be used, but what, where, and how desirable new construction occurs. Because the plans she develops have long-term impacts, Laura strives to ensure that they meet multiple objectives and are adaptable to changing circumstances. With her 30+ years of experience, she offers a deep reservoir of knowledge to assist communities of every size and variety find the right path forward.

Haydee Urita-Lopez

Haydee Urita Lopez is a Principal City Planner for the Los Angeles City Planning Department.  With more than 20 years experience serving multilingual and multicultural communities, she has worked in various capacities and at different levels of public service across Southern California. She has contributed to inclusive and collaborative community planning updates in Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, Westside, Wilmington-Harbor City, and Harbor Gateway communities. She also serves as a key member of the Los Angeles Planning Departments Committee on Racial Justice, Equity and Transformative Planning; and is proudly serving on the California Planning Roundtable. 

Previous to joining City Planning in 2006, she worked at the State and local school district level on policy and major public facilities projects, including schools and parks. More recently, she helped create green zones for the Clean Up Green Up (CUGU) Ordinance, and the outreach efforts for the City’s Health Element - the Plan for Healthy LA elevating the critical and intersectional role that planning plays in shaping healthy communities.

Throughout the years, Haydee has witnessed how advancements in technology and GIS have significantly made planning more accessible to multiple publics and internally has helped to bridge and strengthen collaboration amongst staff. She has been instrumental in shaping participatory and bilingual outreach strategies and supported the expansion of the Department’s Student Professional Worker (SPW) Program as a pathway into the planning field. In keeping with her call to public service, she has taught for over 15 years as a Community College Adjunct Faculty in Ethnic Studies and Chicana/o/x* and Latina/o/x* Studies.  She wholeheartedly volunteers in the Department’s Mentor/Femtor lunch program series and loves learning about other staff member’s pathway into planning and what motivates them in shaping a more equitable, dynamic, healthy, connected, and diverse Los Angeles.

Miguel Vazquez, AICP

Miguel Angel Vazquez, AICP is one of the first planners hired by a public health department in the nation. His role at the Riverside University Health System-Public Health is to strengthen the integration of planning and health through collaboration with non-traditional partners. He is a member of the California Planning Roundtable where he serves as the President and co-chair of the Healthy Communities Work Group and recently became member of APA California Planners4Health Task Force. He received a bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies and Planning from California State University, Northridge and is a fellow of the California Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health. Mr. Vazquez is a dynamic, multi-faceted positive thinker who combines his life experiences and professional insight with his passion for community empowerment through creativity and collaboration. He was born and raised in Mexico City and lives in Riverside, CA with his wife Mary and their two sons, Alexander and Nicholas.

Sarah Wikle

Sarah Wikle is an Associate Planner with the City of Watsonville, where her current responsibilities include review and facilitation of planning and entitlement applications for a range of development projects. Sarah’s professional areas of interest include housing, public health, and environmental justice as they relate to the built environment. She is also assisting with a youth outreach and engagement plan for the City of Watsonville’s 2050 General Plan and Housing Element updates. Sarah supervises the Community Development Department’s high school interns through the City of Watsonville’s Summer in the City high school internship program and the Department's college intern program. 

Sarah’s interest in working with communities stimulated her interest in the planning profession. Her earlier professional experiences include involvement with the University of California, Santa Cruz’s No Place Like Home project, a community led, student engaged research project documenting the affordable housing crisis in Santa Cruz County. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. A graduate of the California Planning Roundtable’s Leadership Academy in 2021, Sarah credits the program for developing her facilitation skills and is excited to assist with facilitation for this year’s class.