James Carli
About Me
Growing up hiking and riding my bike around town, I never fully accepted that ownership of motor vehicles must be prerequisite for participating in society. Walking is the most fundamental form of mobility and freedom, but we live in a country comically hostile to human-powered transportation. This worldview has shaped a lifestyle in pursuit of human autonomy through designs and policies that return public space to the human body and encourage an active and healthy life through using our bodies as they were designed by natural selection. Bike lanes, greenways, hiking trails, pedestrian-focused streets, and communal public agricultural areas are fundamental elements to a well-developed society and their relative absence from American landscapes and culture represent a huge opportunity for the future of American growth, together with planning that integrates rail transit in and out of the hearts of car-free cities and towns of all sizes.
Professional Biography
Most recently, James served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the Township of Maplewood, NJ. He participated in UN-Habitat's Urban Thinkers Campus in October 2015 and in prep meetings for the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 while a Maltese UN delegate. He was on the fundraising team of the Drug Policy Alliance, and previously worked as a planning intern, planning board member, and land trust GIS tech in North Carolina. He has a bachelor's of science in community planning and a master's in diplomacy and international relations, and currently works as a fundraiser for the US Association for the UN Refugee Agency (USA for UNHCR).
Education
Seton Hall UniversityGraduation Date: May, 2013
Degree Level: Graduate
Appalachian State University
Graduation Date: August, 2010
Degree Level: Undergraduate
Planning Degree
Seton Hall University
Graduation Date: May, 2013
Degree Level:
Appalachian State University
Graduation Date: August, 2010
Degree Level:
Planning Degree
Job History
The LandTrust for Central North CarolinaGIS Technician
January,2011 - August,2013
Part time
Salisbury, NC
28144
United States
Drug Policy Alliance
Development Research and Communications Coordinator
December,2013 - September,2016
New York, NY
10001
United States
Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations
Political Adviser
January,2012 - July,2012
New York, NY
10016
United States
Town of Banner Elk, NC
Town Planner Intern
January,2010 - July,2010
Part time
Banner Elk, NC
28604
United States
The Huffington Post
Contributing Writer
June,2014 - January,2018
Part time
None,
None
United States
USA for UNHCR
Development Research Manager
September,2018 - Present
New York, NY
10001
United States
Green Mountain Club
Backcountry Trails Caretaker
July,2018 - September,2018
Green Mountain National Forest, VT
None
United States
Township of Maplewood, NJ
Zoning Board Member
June,2018 - July,2020
Part time
Maplewood, NJ
07040
United States
City of Salisbury, NC
Planning Board Member
April,2011 - August,2011
Part time
Salisbury, NC
28144
United States
The Salisbury Post
Freelance Journalist
November,2010 - August,2011
Part time
Salisbury, NC
28144
United States
City of Brevard, NC
Planning Board Member
January,2021 - Present
Part time
Brevard, NC
28712
United States