Happy Summer, Northern Members!
By Elizabeth “Libby” Tyler, FAICP, Director
And just like that, we are in the middle of the “cool” (for some of us) summer months! I hope you are all enjoying your summer holidays and vacations. Our vacation this year consisted of babysitting our 20-month-old grandson, Remy, while his parents had one last babymoon fling before our next grandson arrives in the Fall. Rob and I did a creditable job, but I think Remy was happy to see his parents back home. His latest obsession and favorite big word is “excavator.” Could it be that he’ll be a developer?
At Northern, we had another smashing success with our 2025 Awards Gala, where the show was definitely stolen by one “Monte Rey”, our “Otter This World” mascot for the upcoming APA California Waves of Change Conference, taking place from September 28 to October 1 in Monterey. Be sure to submit your registration, as mobile workshops and hotel rooms are filling up quickly! We are still seeking sponsors who can help us make this event as special as possible. If you are interested, contact Event Services Supervisor Jenna Bailey at jbailey@compass.management!
We have also made significant progress filling our Board vacancies this quarter and are pleased to welcome the following board members. You can learn more about them in our Who’s Where section.
New Board members:
- Diversity Co-Director, Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeno
- Mid-Career Planners Group Co-Director, Kavitha Kumar
- Planning Commission Training Coordinator (new position), Geoff Bradley, AICP
- San Jose State University Student Representative, Manasi Aranake
- UC Berkeley Student Representative, Samantha Wu Rose
- Technology Manager, Allana Atanacio Ng
- California Planning Foundation, Northern Liaison, Mariah Padilla
Regional Activity Coordinators
- Brian Toy, AICP, in San Francisco
- Joe Sison, Co-RAC in East Bay
- Julie Hawkins Wyrick, AICP, in Monterey
An important transition will be saying goodbye to our longtime Technology Director Tom Holub, who will be focusing on his strategy and planning work at Totally Doable consulting. Tom has been an incredible director, updating our website, administering our Board email accounts, monitoring our Google Workspace platform, and smoothly troubleshooting any number of thorny technical issues. We will miss having him on the Board, but we hope he will still hang out with us when he can!
If you are interested in helping out on the Board, we are still in need of a Co-RAC for the South Bay (apply here). And we can always use your contributions to Northern News or volunteer help at the conference or other events.
As I write this, we are just 75 days away from the Waves of Change Conference. I am looking forward to seeing many of you there and, who knows, I might be able to have another dance with Monte.
Once again, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at any time if you have any suggestions or would like to contribute to one of our programs.