Miguel Vazquez, FAICP

FAICP Statement

A visionary, groundbreaking planner and artist, Miguel Angel Vazquez is dedicated to creating healthier, more equitable communities and help planners to better address public health concerns. To advance his passions, he employs collaborative leadership, open-hearted creativity, and an extraordinary ability to connect. Among his many accomplishments are APA California's Planners4Health Initiative, Planning for Health, Equity, Leadership and Advocacy (PHEL) collaborative and numerous interventions, including the Healthy Cities Network, designed to improve health outcomes of residents in Riverside County. He was an early Equity, Diversity and Inclusion leader and worked to ensure that Environmental Justice is addressed in California General Plans.

Professional Biography

Miguel Angel Vazquez, FAICP, is an optimistic, dynamic, and multi-faceted community planner passionate about creativity and collaboration. With over two decades of experience providing community development and professional planning services to the private, public, and military sectors, Miguel Angel stands out as one of the nation's first planners hired by a public health department. As a planning and health integration expert at the Riverside University Health System-Public Health, Miguel works with non-traditional partners to strengthen the bond between planning and health. He is a highly active member of the American Planning Association (APA) and is involved in the APA Latinos in Planning Division. Miguel is a founding member and immediate past APA Arts and Planning Divisions Chair and has recently created the APA Health Equity Interest Group. As a recognized leader in his field, Miguel serves on the steering committees of Planners4Health California and the Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership (PHEAL) project. He is the immediate past President of the California Planning Roundtable. The APA and its affiliates have acknowledged his work and leadership with several prestigious awards, including the 2018 APA President's Award and the 2020 APA California Distinguished Contribution Award. He also received the 2021 Dale Prize from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Miguel graduated from California State University, Northridge, earning a bachelor's in Urban Studies and Planning, and is pursuing a Master's in Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow. He is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a Fellow at the California Leadership Academy for the Public's Health. Miguel was born and raised in Mexico City and became an American citizen in 2002. He calls Riverside home, where he lives with his wife and sons. Miguel Angel loves to travel and meet new people from diverse backgrounds and is keenly interested in all things associated with creativity.

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