Scholarship Winners
APA congratulates the recipients of the 2021 Charles Abrams, APA Foundation, and Judith McManus Price scholarships.
APA Foundation Scholarship Winners
APA Foundation scholarships make the planning profession more diverse and accessible to individuals with limited means and help attract the most talented individuals to the profession.
University of Michigan
Anthony Bui
Thanks to your generosity, I am one step closer to making our urban areas accessible for all. Transportation policy has a tendency to promote unwelcoming streets solely for the benefit of drivers, but it can also be used as a remedy to encourage a street for all users. Thus, I will promote and protect public transportation to bridge our communities, connect all types of people with opportunities, and stimulate economic potential in the urban environment.
Columbia University
Will Cao
The necessity for a collective mission towards confronting health and climate disasters could not have been more apparent over the past year, as well as the role of planners to encourage and mitigate outcomes. With the generous support from this scholarship, I am able to continue my education towards the goal of responsibly building greater resilience and climate justice for communities that have been underrepresented in the processes of planning and developing the built environment.
Tufts University
Kameice Francis
Thank you to all who made this possible. This scholarship has made a world of difference for me. The
opportunities offered by the APA Foundation Scholarship will undoubtedly ensure that I have the
financial resources to finish my Master’s in Environmental Policy and Planning. After graduation, I aspire
to return to my home country, Jamaica, to develop effective national climate change mitigation and
adaptation strategies. Once again, thank you.
opportunities offered by the APA Foundation Scholarship will undoubtedly ensure that I have the
financial resources to finish my Master’s in Environmental Policy and Planning. After graduation, I aspire
to return to my home country, Jamaica, to develop effective national climate change mitigation and
adaptation strategies. Once again, thank you.
The University of Texas at Arlington
Qian He
My career goal is to become a research-driven planner and educator. Through my research, teaching, and service, I am committed to creating an equitable environment for people and communities from all backgrounds. The APA Foundation scholarship will help me finishing the final phase of my doctoral degree. This scholarship will allow me to share my research and cultivate professional planning networks at national and international level. The recognition of the APA Foundation Scholarship will be a tremendous encouragement as I work to achieve my goal of advancing equity in urban planning.
University of Minnesota
Fatha Sharif
I am beyond grateful and excited at the opportunity to have received a 2021 American Planning Association Foundation Scholarship. I have begun my studies at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs as part of the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program, and hope to complete a concentration in housing and community development. I aspire to lead a planning career in the public sector that centers and empowers communities that have historically experienced marginalization, a lack of representation, and access to influence decisions made in regards to their own neighborhoods and homes.
Charles Abrams Scholarship Winner
This scholarship program is for citizens of the United States who are enrolled or have been accepted for enrollment at the graduate planning programs of Columbia University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New School University, or the University of Pennsylvania.
Harvard University
Sara Arman
I wanted to sincerely thank you for awarding me the Charles Abrams Scholarship. This scholarship will be directly applied to my tuition and will help support my graduate studies. At the Graduate School of Design my focus within Urban Planning is Housing, Neighborhood, and Economic Development. After graduation, I hope to work in my hometown- Chelsea, MA either at a local CDC or in the city planning department to help create more affordable housing. I am so grateful for the APA to helping make this career a reality for me!
Judith McManus Price Scholarship Winner
This scholarship fund was created to encourage women and minorities to enter the field of planning, and to help planning students who have demonstrated financial need.
University of California, Berkeley
Kaitlyn Kong
Receiving this scholarship will allow me to further my research and studies on: Transportation Planning and Equity, Active/Multi-Modal Transportation, Public Transportation, Green and Complete Streets, Streetscape, Sustainable Development, Public Spaces, Green Spaces, Sustainable Cities, Livability. As a woman of color, I am so excited for the opportunity to improve the built environment and achieve a more accessible, equitable, and sustainable future.
Since 2015, the APA Foundation has awarded $113,000 in scholarships to deserving planning students who will be leaders and advocates in their communities. Support the APA Foundation today to help us empower the planners of tomorrow.
Previous Winners
APA Foundation Scholarship
2020
Harvard University
Andriani Atmadja
Your generosity helps me to further my mission in enhancing climate resilience planning for vulnerable communities that seek social justice and equity in its practice. As a woman in the future planning profession, I am also hoping to generate strategies to ensure equitable collaboration through empowerment of women, children, elderly, and underrepresented communities to actively participate in the planning process.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Shekhar Chandra
I was born in a remote village in north India of mostly below-poverty-line households with a low literacy rate and where the majority of households depend on farming activities for their livelihoods. The experiences of my youth inculcated a genuine passion for acquiring scientific knowledge and a deep desire to influence the policymaking process so that I could someday make a difference for those who were less fortunate than me.
Harvard University
Cecley Hill
We are in a critical moment where the demand for Urban Planners has become increasingly evident across a variety of landscapes and in a myriad of roles. As a second year graduate student preparing to transition into this field professionally, I look forward to building on my personal knowledge and educational experiences to create more equitable cities internationally, and to help meet this demand.
Rutgers University
Amal Muse
Thanks to your generous support I am the first in my family to attend graduate school. Growing up in a less privileged community has not only offered financial and academic challenges, but has also helped me realize the value of a higher education. My plans at this stage are to complete my Masters in City and Regional Planning and concentrate in environmental policy.
Harvard University
Whytne Stevens
Receiving this scholarship allows me to continue my studies at Harvard and look more deeply into subjects within urban planning such as people centered urban design, participatory planning, community development and community building, finding the intersection of art and urban planning, and social equity based approaches to urban planning.
Rutgers University
Marius Williams
As a City and Regional Planning student I plan to concentrate on international design and development. I believe that the practice of both local and international planning and design can reveal and spread innovative best planning practices across regions and cultures.
2019
University of California, Berkeley
Priscila Coli
Priscila Coli is a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley's City and Regional Planning PhD program. Coli spent six years working as an urban planner in Rio de Janeiro and focused on sustainability, zoning parameters for affordable housing, and redressing disparities in urban infrastructure. She hopes to contribute to the development of urban policies and legislation that could regulate new actors while also empowering residents from the peripheries, facilitating and strengthening equitable civic participation.
TufTs University
Alexandra Duprey
Alexandra Duprey is a graduate student at Tufts University's Master's in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program. She plans to build upon her experience as an intern for a sustainable development nongovernmental organization (NGO) in India, and as a transportation planner in Florida observing the disparity between the people proposing development plans and the people being affected by the plans, to champion diversity and social and environmental justice in the planning profession.
University of Colorado, Denver
Valeria Henao Cano
Valeria Henao Cano is a graduate student at the University of Colorado, Denver Master's of Urban and Regional Planning program. She has worked as an architect in Colombia and has experience developing projects that improve quality of life in marginalized communities. As a planner, she plans to work on improving informal areas that serve marginalized populations.
University of Pennsylvania
Claire Jaffe
Claire Jaffe is a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania Master's of City Planning program. She is working on bicycle and pedestrian planning and is interested in how multimodal networks create safer spaces. Jaffe has organized spaces for women and LGBTQ folks who are in the planning field or interested in urban planning issues to come together, network, and build connections.
Harvard University
Laier-Rayshon Smith
Laier-Rayshon Smith is a graduate student at the Harvard University Master's of Urban Planning program. Smith's vision for equitable communities includes working at the intersections of social interaction, policy, design and the decision-making processes that formulate the built environment. Living in Pittsburgh and working at non-profit organizations in the city helped to shape this vision.
Charles Abrams Scholarship
2020
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sharon Velasquez
Thanks to you, I am set for success as I develop the critical planning and leadership skills that will empower me to lead an economic development organization in my future.
2019
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Vanessa Toro Barragan
Vanessa Toro Barragan is a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Master's in City Planning program. Barragan plans to leverage her complex identities as a white-presenting Latina who was born in Colombia but raised in the United States to find opportunities for social transformation as a path towards equitable and just cities. Her thesis will focus on the youth from an Afro-Colombian Pacific territory and efforts to rebuild within the challenging context of structural violence, poverty, and environmental hazards.
2018
Harvard University
Gina Ciancone
Gina Ciancone is a graduate student at the Harvard University's Master in Urban Planning program. She will be pursuing solutions that mitigate natural disasters and climate change in Houston and New Delhi, India.
2017
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reed Jordan
2016
Joshua Davidson
University of Pennsylvania
2015
John McCartin
Harvard University
2014
Brett Roeth Peanasky
University of Pennsylvania
2013
Jennifer Lee
Harvard University
2012
Jinny Khanduja
Columbia University
2011
Maxwell Sokol
Columbia University
2010
Christina Ghan
Columbia University
2009
Chris Horne
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2008
Danielle Martin
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2007
John Reinhardt
University of Pennsylvania
2006
Tegin Leigh Teich
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2005
Katherine Scott
Columbia University
2004
Karen Hu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2003
Annis Whitlow
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2002
Kristin Malia Garcia
Harvard Design School
2001
Kathy Diaz
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Judith McManus Price Scholarship
2018
Georgia Institute of Technology
Jasmine Jones-Bynes
Jasmine Jones-Bynes is a current graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology Master in City and Regional Planning program. She is passionate about the built environment's influence on public health and will be working on active transportation and parks and recreation challenges.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Kim Lovely
Kim Lovely is a current graduate student at the University of Illinois, Chicago Master of Urban Planning and Public Policy program. She will focus on making communities better for low-income and underserved populations.
University of California, Berkeley
Lily MacIver
Lily MacIver is a current graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley Master of City Planning program. She will be continuing her work exploring innovative planning interventions to reduce air pollution exposure.
Harvard University
Henna Mahmood
Henna Mahmood is a current graduate student at the Harvard University Master in Urban Planning program. She is studying urban analytics and international planning with plans to pursue a career in building global city resilience.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kenyatta McLean
Kenyatta McLean is a current graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Master in City Planning program. She is studying how planning can support heritage conservation of black spaces challenged by real estate pressures.
University of California, Berkeley
Diego Rentería
Diego Rentería is a current graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley Master of City Planning program. He is studying brownfield and river restoration to develop regional park and open space systems in park-poor urban areas.
University of Michigan
India Solomon
India Solomon is a current graduate student at the University of Michigan Master of Urban and Regional Planning program. She is studying community development and design with a focus on equitable revitalization in Detroit's neighborhoods.
2017
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Harvard University
Carolyn Angius
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University of Colorado at Denver
Mayra Gonzales
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Portland State University
Madison Levy
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Eastern Washington University
Claire Miller
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University of Southern California
Rachel Mills-Coyne
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Florida State University
Hadley Peterson
2016
Obiamaka Ude
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ana Bonilla
University of California — Los Angeles
2015
Fernando Montejo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jessica Myers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2014
Amina Hassen
Hunter College
Ashleigh Johnson
University of Michigan
2013
Adriana Akers
MIT
Stefani Cox
University of California–Berkeley
Deyanira Martinez
University of Arizona
2012
Carlos Recarte
University of California–Berkeley
Julia Metz
Portland State University
Alexandria Murnan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2011
Chelsea Chee
University of New Mexico
Jocelyn Drummond
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lauren Trice
University of Pennsylvania
2010
Avital Barnea
University of Minnesota
Stephanie Brown
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Sharon Wade-Ellis
University of Oregon
2009
John Arroyo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Tynisha Beard
Rutgers University
Yovana Perez
University of California–Los Angeles
Carrie Randall
Cornell University
2008
Marlynne Powell
Wayne State University
2007
Nichole Arbeiter
Arizona State University
Krista Trout-Edwards
University of Michigan
2006
Angela Trinh
University of California–Los Angeles
2005
Teresa Cameron
Eastern Washington University
Valerie Gingrich
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Maureen Hickey
University of California–Berkeley
2004
Alexia Kelly-Schwartz
University of Oregon
Nicole Clare
University of Pennsylvania
Vivian Castro
Columbia University
Gabriela Juarez
University of California–Los Angeles