Speaker Change!

Due to a schedule conflict, Anne Fadullon is not available to speak at Inside the Planner’s Studio. We are happy to announce that Patty Elkis, Director of Planning at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) will be the featured guest on Inside the Planner’s Studio.

• 6:30-7:00: The event will begin with networking. Light h’orderves and drinks will be provided. Mentors and students from the mentor program will have the opportunity to meet during this time.
• 7:00-7:45: The Inside the Planner’s Studio program will take place.
• 7:45-8:00: Ms. Elkis will take questions from the audience.
• 8:00-8:30: There will be additional time to network after the event.

Inside the Planner’s Studio with Patty Elkis & Karen Thompson

Wednesday, October 26th, 2016 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM

The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania

Fisher Fine Arts Building, Room 401 (34th Street & Walnut Street)

(Entrance is on the west side of the building, facing College Green.)

Philadelphia, PA 19104

Cost: Free—with Eventbrite registration

Have you ever wondered how someone became such a successful and effective planner? What advice they could provide about civic engagement? What projects are they are most proud of and why? APAPASE’s “Inside the Planner’s Studio” series asks these questions and more. We’re honored to have Patty Elkis, Director of Planning at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, as our 3rd speaker in the annual “Inside the Planners Studio” speaker series. Karen Thompson of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation will be asking Ms. Elkis about her career, civic engagement, and her advice for planners. Karen will skip the small talk and ask Ms. Elkis the big questions: What pivotal moments have shaped her career? If she could go back, would she do anything differently? You’ll have to come to find out! If you have any questions you would like to ask Ms. Elkis, you can enter them when you register here.

October has been designated as National Community Planning Month by the American Planning Association. This year’s theme, “Civic Engagement,” acknowledges that thoughtful local planning cannot happen without meaningful community engagement. Follow the national conversation at #PlanningMonth.

Patty Elkis

Patty Elkis, PP, AICP, is Director of Planning at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.   She oversees staff in long-range planning, freight and aviation planning, and transportation safety and congestion management; environmental and smart growth planning; economic, demographic and GIS analyses; marketing and commuter services; as well as DVRPC’s newer initiatives in energy, climate change, food system and healthy communities planning.   Patty has partnered with a number of non-profits and other governments on regional projects, including the GreenSpace Alliance on the Return on Environment study, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society on regionwide tree planting projects, and Natural Lands Trust and the Philadelphia Water Department for the Schuylkill Priority Lands Strategy.   Her Return on Environment study, land prioritization modeling work, greenway work and New Regionalism project have received awards of recognition from Communities in Motion, the Schuylkill Action Network, Delaware River Greenway Partnership, the Rancocas Conservancy, and APA Pennsylvania Chapter.   Patty serves on the Board of the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association, the Lower Merion Township Shade Tree Commission, as co-chair of the Land Use and Policy Council of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Urban Land Institute, as well as on the Advisory Board of the Philadelphia Chapter of ULI.   Before joining DVRPC, she worked at SEPTA and at Montgomery County Planning Commission, as well as working as a town planner in the Negev desert in Israel.   Patty received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Master of City Planning, with a Certificate in Appropriate Technology for Developing Countries, also from Penn.  

Karen Thompson, Interviewer

Karen Thompson is a Planner and Project Manager with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation where she works on a variety of streetscape, trail, planning, and park projects as part of the implementation of the Master Plan for the Central Delaware. Her projects include the Penn’s Landing Redevelopment Study, the Delaware River Trail design, the Columbia Avenue and Spring Garden Street Connector projects, and the West Shipyard Archaeology study. Ms. Thompson previously worked as a historian at a small preservation planning firm in Austin, Texas and holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in History and a Master’s degree in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania with a certificate in Urban Design. She is also involved in the Emerging Professionals and Events Committee of the APAPASE.

About APAPASE

American Planning Association, Pennsylvania Chapter, Southeast Section (APAPASE) is the Philadelphia area section of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association, representing approximately 740 members in the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia. For more information about APAPASE, please visit www.apapase.org. Follow us on Twitter at @APAPASoutheast, like us on Facebook, or join our group on LinkedIn.  

APAPASE would like to thank the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design for sponsoring this event!