SECTION DIRECTOR

Diego is a native San Diegan who has been practicing design and planning in California for more than 25 years. He is Founder and President of Citythinkers, an inter-disciplinary urban design and planning firm based in San Diego and with leading projects spanning all scales and contexts, from affordable infill housing to campus plans, specific plans, master plans, design standards, and recently, coastal resilience planning for private sector and public sector clients alike. Diego is also a practicing architectural designer, a Certified Planner, and an undergraduate instructor at UC San Diego .

SECRETARY

Camila is the SD APA Board Secretary and a Planning Manager for the County of San Diego, overseeing the Housing Element and Transportation Policy Team. She also has experience as a Project Manager, managing contractors for the construction of County facilities such as fire stations and libraries. Camila holds a Bachelor of Laws, a Master of City Planning, a Master of Public Administration, and a CEQA certificate. Camila is an attorney in both Brazil and California, and is passionate about social justice and equity.

TREASURER

Pete is a San Diego-based transportation planner and project manager with more than 15 years of multimodal experience across California. He leads teams of planners and engineers who thrive on solving complex problems and designing high-quality infrastructure that improves communities. His teams specialize in conceptual design, mobility analyses, and policy development for a wide range of projects and programs including public transit, complete streets, bikeways, pedestrian facilities, corridors, and multimodal hubs.

PROGRAMS CO-CHAIR

Kimiko is a Principal of Healthy Communities at Rincon Consultants and has served on the San Diego APA Board since 2017. With 23 years of experience in planning, she’s worn many hats – city planner, campus planner, and consultant supporting long-range planning for government agencies and communities. Kimiko collaborates with other professionals to develop dynamic programs, raise awareness about peers’ work in the region and field, and champions equity, creating resilient places and nurturing future leaders.

COMMUNICATIONS CHAIR

Erika is a Senior Urban Planner with a focus on land use planning and community development. In her professional career, Erika applies her multi-disciplinary background in urban planning, development and design, sustainability, and bilingual outreach. In her spare time, Erika enjoys spending time at the beach, traveling, practicing yoga, and going for walks with her husband and their dog, Coco.

WEB MANAGER

Shannon is a Senior Planner with a focus on community planning and sustainable development. She spends her day-to-day managing long-range public planning projects throughout Southern California. Off the clock, she spends her time surfing the San Diego coast and walking around her neighborhood, Point Loma.

MARKETING AND MEMBERSHIP CO-CHAIR

Kelly has 15 years of broad experience in climate, sustainability and environmental planning during which she has helped shape the policies and outcomes within multiple communities across California. Her current focus is to help communities fund and plan projects to manage risk and build resilience to the effects of climate change.

AWARDS CO-CHAIR

Jana Schwartz, AICP is a Senior Planner with the County of San Diego and a proud San Diego native. Prior to working at the County, she worked in the nonprofit and private sectors and has helped provide improved open space and mobility opportunities to communities in California and the Midwest. Jana holds a BS in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design from UC Davis and a Master's Degree in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

ACADEMIC LIAISON AND CPF SECTION LIAISON

Sue has over 30 years of professional experience in the public and private sector. She teaches studio courses as a faculty member at UC San Diego in the Urban Studies and Planning Department. She holds a Bachelor’s in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a Paralegal Certificate from the University of San Diego, and a Master’s in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

YEP COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR

Emma is a transportation planner who is passionate about helping communities plan for a resilient future that meets everyone's needs. She focuses on multi-modal mobility strategies that facilitate equitable, accessible, sustainable, and livable community development. Key areas of experience and interest include: the intersection of transportation and land use; transit and active transportation networks; complete communities; and strategies to facilitate housing production.

JOURNAL COORDINATOR

David Suls is an urban planner with 20 years of experience in land use policy, transportation planning, economic development, and capital project management. He enjoys tackling projects that are physically, financially, and politically complex, and place a strong emphasis on cross-sector coordination, stakeholder outreach, and public engagement. He enjoys exploring new places with his family.

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE

Ben grew up in Seattle and moved to San Diego for sunshine and adventure. He is currently working at San Diego County as a Senior Planner and enrolled at San Diego State University working on his Master's of City Planning.