Women in Planning

An Interview with Mary Means, Main Street Movement Pioneer

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Women in Planning – Part VII

by Victoria Olivier, AICP, Regional Planner and Kristen Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner

Urban renewal, migration from our towns and smaller cities to larger, more metropolitan areas, and attendant growth of suburbs, have created the now familiar contours of disinvestment, abandonment, and decay in towns across the U.S. This trend began as a result of rapid industrialization in the face of two World Wars, accelerating by the mid-20th century, and in some areas continues to this day.

Thus, when urban renewal resulted in tearing down entire blocks within town centers, and shopping centers were luring both stores and shoppers to follow them to the suburbs, it began to look as though small towns would simply fade away. The downward slide of traditional town centers was gradual but steady, and town leaders had little information about how to fight back.

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Remembering Jane Dembner: Consummate Professional Planner and Community Advocate

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Women in Planning Series: Part VI

by Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner

To read about Jane Dembner, having never had the opportunity to meet her, is to read about a planner who was, like so many we have featured in this series, passionate about what she did, persistent in her goals, and unwavering in her ideals. She has been described by her family and peers as driven, determined, a leader in the community, “intellectually curious and a proactive problem solver,”[i] and “an intrepid innovator.”[ii]

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Elizabeth M. Hewlett: An Extraordinary Career —

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Breaking New Ground and Glass Ceilings 

Women in Planning Series: Part V

By Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner 

With an already storied career as an attorney and principal in a prestigious law firm, Elizabeth (Betty) M. Hewlett broke new ground when she was appointed to her first term as Chairman of Prince George’s County Planning Board from 1995 to 2006. As the first African American and the first woman to serve in this capacity – in both an organization and a profession which, up to that time, was largely dominated by white men – Hewlett, now in her second term (2011-present), is responsible for leading one of the nation’s premier parks and planning organizations.   

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In Case You Missed It!

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Women in Planning

In the spirit of our Women in Planning Series, we are pleased to share with you Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum’s recording of the 3rd virtual presentation in its 2020 speaker series, Gertrude Sawyer, A Woman Who Builds! 

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Sharon Suarez: Champion of Affordable Housing – the Heart of Great Planning

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Women in Planning Series: Part IV

by Kristen E. Humphrey, MLA, Local Assistance and Training Planner 

Courtesy of Sharon Suarez

Unfortunately for me, I have never met Sharon Suarez in person, and was unable to do so in preparing for this article…another modest example of the collateral damage that comes of living in times of a global pandemic. From a recent phone interview with her, however, I can say this with certainty: Sharon Suarez is – in the best possible sense of the phrase – a genuine force of nature! In discussing her nearly 30-year career as a certified planner, I came away in awe of her breadth of experience and, by all appearances, her inexhaustible fount of both inspiration and energy.

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