By Libby Tyler, FAICP, Board Director, January 28, 2025
As we begin the new year, I am honored and excited to take the helm as your APA CA Northern’s Director. The brilliant Michael Cass is a hard act to follow! Thankfully, he continues to provide guidance to Northern’s Board as Past Director. I joined APA in 1978 as a student, coinciding with the year APA was officially formed, and I’ve been a devoted member ever since. When my husband, Rob Olshansky, FAICP, and I moved back to California in 2018 after many years in Illinois, one of the first groups we connected with was APA CA Northern. We attended some of the Regional Activity Coordinator (RAC) events, where I first met many of my peers on the Board. Soon after, I volunteered to serve as Northern’s Ethics Review Director, and I’ve been an active Board member ever since.
We have an amazing year ahead of us. First and foremost, this year, we host the Chapter Conference! Planning is well underway for our “Waves of Change, Reconnecting Communities” conference in Monterey on September 28 – October 1, 2025. More than 40 APA CA Northern volunteers are hard at work on various conference planning committees under the capable leadership of our Conference Co-Directors, Michael Cass, Florentina Craciun, AICP, and Afshan Hamid, AICP. The call for session proposals is open through March 10, 2025.
Your APA CA Northern board members are also hard at work planning this year’s calendar of networking, educational, and celebratory events. Submissions for this year’s APA CA Northern Planning Awards are due mid-February, and the Awards Gala will be held on May 15, 2025. Also in the planning stages is the next Co-Lab networking event scheduled for early November 2025. On the educational front, keep an eye out for upcoming programs on topics such as Climate and Equity, Women in Planning, CEQA – from Application to Judgement, Applying for Government Jobs, and more. After a COVID-related hiatus, our International Programs Directors are offering an international planning tour to Baja California Sur from April 12 to 19, 2025. Contact international@norcalapa.org if you’d like to learn more.
While we look forward to you, our members, participating in and enjoying these events, I also want to invite your deeper involvement. We have several key vacancies on our Board, and I would love for you to consider one of the following opportunities: Professional Development Director, Diversity Co-Director, Technology Director, Ethics Review Director, Mid-Career Planners Co-Director, and Monterey Bay Regional Activity Coordinator. Please contact Director Elect Jeff Bond, AICP, at director-elect@norcalapa.org to learn more.
Finally, we want to assure all our members that we are here to support you during these turbulent times, navigating the pressing issues that pertain to our communities, including response to disasters, serving those most in need, such as our unhoused and immigrant populations, planning for climate change and extreme weather, and upholding APA’s ongoing commitment to equity and diversity.
I would love to hear your ideas or suggestions for improving Northern’s services to members and Planners serving the communities we represent! Please email me at director@norcalapa.org.
