ILAPA News BURST! Latinos in Planning Division

New APA Division: Latinos and Planning by Leonardo Vazquez

	The American Planning Association (APA) recently approved the creation of the Latinos and Planning Division. The division is the only nationwide group to focus on urban planning issues in Latino communities and career challenges facing Hispanic planners. The division was started in April 2005 by Leonardo Vasquez, who teaches at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. The division status means Latinos and Planning will have added credibility as it works to influence leaders in the field of planning and community development, funders, policy makers, and academics. Latinos and Planning becomes only the 20th division in an organization of more than 37,000 members. Divisions are part of the leadership foundation of APA. The Divisions’ Council helps influence APA policy by advising its Board of Directors. Creating the division was a bootstrap effort involving more than a dozen planning professionals and academics -- all volunteers – who worked on a combined budget of less than $2,000. Together, they engaged more than 210 professionals and created a national agenda for action. The division will be publishing a website and is seeking additional members. Latinos are the most underrepresented ethnic group in the APA. Though Latinos are the largest ethnic minority in the United States – at least 14 percent of the U.S. population – they represent less than 3 percent of APA membership. Latino planners are often a small minority in their field, and there are few Latino planners in executive positions. Over the spring and summer, Vazquez attracted volunteers from California, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., and other states. The volunteers became local organizers who led forums with their peers – called dialogos (Spanish for “dialogues”) that led to a national agenda for action. The dialogos focused on two questions: What are the biggest challenges facing Latino planners? What are the biggest planning challenges facing Latino communities? Participants were ethnically diverse, but the majority were Latino planning and community development professionals. Ten dialogos were held between October 2005 and November 2006. Two more are scheduled, and more are being planned for 2007. Utilizing a seed grant from the Bloustein School Dean’s office in 2005, the group’s leadership made decisions using a collaborative leadership model developed by Vazquez. Ideas were proposed, reviewed and refined by the membership. The organizers – several of whom are now part of the division’s steering committee – reflected the members’ concerns and ideas in the organizing principles and bylaws. Latinos and Planning follows in the wake of the Hispanic Planners Network, which in the early to mid-1990’s, was the first nationwide effort to organize Latino planning professionals. That effort was led by University of Miami Vice President Sergio Rodriguez, a former APA Board member. Rodriguez is now an active member of and advisor to Latinos and Planning. The division's website includes information on the national agenda, how the division was formed, and information about division membership. Site enhancements will include resources for planners working in Hispanic communities — ways to engage Latino residents and organizations in community planning efforts and ways to build planning capacity of organizations within Latino communities. For more information on the division, contact the Division's Chair, Leonardo Vazquez. If you are interested in joining a Latinos and Planning Local Action Network (LAPLAN), please contact the local organizer for Illinois: Maribel Rios Louie. Note: “Latino” and “Hispanic” are used interchangeably in this article. This article was reprinted with permission from the New Jersery Chapter of the APA.
	Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP Latinos and Planning Chair Phone: 732-932-3822, x711 vazquezl@rci.rutgers.edu