By Richard Davis, Associate Editor, and Logan Woodruff, AICP, Northern Events Program co-Manager, October 12, 2024
The 2024 APA CA Northern Awards Gala, held in the vibrant SOMA district of San Francisco, brought together nearly 150 planning professionals from across Northern’s service area. Held at Foundry SF, the evening featured an opening reception, an awards ceremony (view the awards video here), and a closing reception, followed by a lively afterparty. The venue’s energetic ambiance set the perfect stage to celebrate twenty exemplary planning projects, three outstanding professionals, and fourteen California Planning Foundation scholarship recipients.
On behalf of the Gala organizing team, LoganWoodruff said “I believe this event saw the highest attendance for a section event in several years, and it definitely had the best playlist! (Check it out here!) I’m excited to continue supporting high-quality events for the Northern and build on this momentum with polished and engaging experiences that connect planning professionals from all stages of their careers and across the region.“
The Northern board is grateful to all who made this celebration of our profession possible, especially Gala organizers and board members Logan Woodruff, Carlina Rose, and Channing Bickford, sponsor organizations M-Group, Placeworks, Rhoades Planning Group, Toole Design, and RRM Design Group, volunteers Cindy Adrian, David Bafumi, and Franklin Pandoy, and volunteer coordinator/Young and Emerging Planners co-Director, Olivia Mendoza.
Open the Gala’s Spotify playlist, turn up the volume, and enjoy some of our favorite images of event participants, attendees, and activities. Hover your cursor over each image to learn more about our 2024 Northern Awards Gala celebration!
Opening Reception mixer leading up to the ceremony
Presenting our 2024 APA CA Northern Awards winners
Not all award winners were able to attend and receive their awards. For a complete list of this year’s award winners, please visit Northern Section’s Awards page.
Reflections from awardees
Some award winners share what being honored by the Northern Section meant to them:
“It means so much that the profession has acknowledged my work. I’ve been to a lot of these events and always enjoy seeing the interesting projects. Glad I get to share this moment with my colleagues.”
“It’s awesome to be recognized as planners because planners don’t always get to see the final product. I appreciated partnerships because it takes a village with stakeholders and consultants. It’s not possible without teamwork to overcome planning during COVID, to be here today, the achievement is personally so rewarding as a planner.”
“A lot of work went into this project, so it’s nice to be recognized. It’s an honor to recognize a small town for their engagement and creativity. APA’s willingness to look closely at these efforts feels special. This wasn’t expected.”
What we heard from attendees and volunteers
“[Meeting] some names from research or studies. Seeing these people in person is really cool.”
“Seeing all the scholarship winners from my university.”
“Last year’s gala was fun, I was interested to meet more planners.”