ULI Washington’s FY19 UrbanPlan season is off to a great start, with 12 new UrbanPlan volunteers trained, a partnership with ULI – Baltimore, and a facilitation at George Mason University.

On October 26^th, ULI members Mansur Abdul-Malik (NHP Foundation), Ralph Bell (Roadside Development), Samia Byrd (Arlington County), Bianca Cole (Chicago Title Insurance Co.), Melanie Graf (ATCS) and Nancy Voorhees joined with ULI staffers Anita Kramer, Rosie Hepner, Gretchen Sweeney and Alex Schroeder to pledge their talents to teaching students how to meaningfully engage in shaping their communities by volunteering with UrbanPlan in local high schools and colleges.  Their skills and diverse work experience are a welcome enhancement to an already strong local talent pool for the program.

Meanwhile, ULI Washington has partnered with ULI Baltimore to increase opportunities for UrbanPlan volunteers in both areas.  ULI Baltimore members are supporting the ULI Washington program by volunteering in facilitations at Washington-Lee High School and George Mason University, and ULI Washington members living or working near Baltimore will have the opportunity to participate in a facilitation this spring at Bowie State University.

Finally, this past week, ULI members Justin Chapman (Skanska USA Commercial Development), Luis Gonzalez (Lennar), Melina Duggal (Duggal Real Estate Advisors) and Nancy Thiel met with George Mason University graduate students at an UrbanPlan facilitation on Nov. 14^th.  The students are all enrolled in a Policy and Planning of the Built Environment class as part of George Mason University’s Masters in Real Estate Development program.  Doling out professional advice as well as proposal feedback, the volunteers kept the class engaging and lively even at the end of a long work day!

If you are a trained UrbanPlan volunteer interested in participating in an upcoming program, ULI Washington is still recruiting volunteers for UrbanPlan at Washington-Lee High School on Dec. 4^th and Dec. 14^th.  Please email Margit Nahra at [email protected] for more details.