Public Engagement
It’s important to look at who is at the table and ask the question, who isn’t here? Effective engagement puts people first and meets them where they are.
Having started out as a community organizer, my passion for rolling up the shirt sleeves and getting out into the community is evident throughout my work. I have extensive experience in designing and executing creative engagement strategies to bring diverse stakeholders to the table. From large public workshops to strategic media relations, I have worked with city leaders to achieve community-driven outcomes.
Where I’ve Been…
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PLANKCK PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
As part of updating a citywide comprehensive plan, we led an internal engagement strategy to maximize our local expertise and staff familiarity with community organizations, businesses, and neighborhood advocates. By turning our staff strategy sessions into public convenings, we welcomed community leaders to the table as we conceived and executed comprehensive, multi-lingual outreach that fostered support and ownership over the final adopted plan.
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NATIONAL
Giller, Chip, “Here’s to a better 2021 — and a better 2200,” Fix Solutions Lab, Jan 23, 2021.
Stuart, S.C., “How Scooters (and the Data They Collect) Can Transform Cities,” PC Mag, Oct 23, 2018.
Betsky, Aaron, “Making Invisible Infrastructure Visible,” Architect Magazine, Jun 30, 2017.
S.C. Stuart, “How to Survive in LA Without Driving,” PC Mag, August 2, 2016.
Abrams, Rachel, “Self-Driving Cars May Get Here Before We’re Ready,” The New York Times, Jan 21, 2016.
LOS ANGELES
Zaleski, Andrew, “The future is coming - at 11 miles per hour,” Curbed LA, Apr 17, 2019.
“Here’s the future of LA traffic, according to the people planning to improve it,” KPCC Take Two, May 4, 2018.
Tinoco, Matt, “The Future Los Angeles is Filled With Self-Driving Minibuses That Arrive At Your Doorstep,” LAist, Sep 8, 2016.
Walker, Alissa, “LA’s big plan to change the way we move,” Curbed LA, Sep 9, 2016.
“Demand Management Technologies Revolutionize How Urban DOTs Enhance Public Mobility,” The Planning Report, Dec 21 2015.
Alpern, Ken, “Lending Traffic-Plagued LA a New Hand: Ashley Z. Hand,” City Watch LA, Aug 20, 2015.
Hodapp, Matt, “Kansas City to Become the Largest ‘Smart City’ in North America,” KCUR, Apr 23, 2015.
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BOOKS
Smart City Architecture and Planning: Evolving Systems Through IoT, Internet of Things and Data Analytics Handbook, ed. Hwaiyu Geng. Wiley Press, December 2016. With Dominique Davison.
ARTICLES
Letter to the Editor: Former KC innovation officer weighs in on new short-term rental law, Startland News, Mar 2, 2018.
Public Information Age: How Data Creates a New Public Space, Newsletter - Summer 2017, Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design, Summer 2017. With Gunnar Hand.
Redefining Urban Mobility: Four Ways Shared Autonomous Vehicles Will Reshape Our Cities. Journal of Global Real Estate. Counselors of Real Estate. March 2017.
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KEYNOTE | PLENARY
National Sciences Federation Principal Investigator Conference, Researchers Collaborating with Cities Plenary Panel | Washington, DC, October 2022
Open for Business: How Cities are Making it Happen, hosted by BlueJeans by Verizon, August 2020.
Traffic21 Institute Ten Year Anniversary Symposium at Carnegie Mellon University, Deploying Transportation Technology Plenary | Pittsburgh, PA, November 2019
State of the City 2019, City of West Hollywood | West Hollywood, CA, June 2019
Smart City Design Forum, Helix Architecture | Kansas City, MO, March 2018
Global Cities in An Era of Change, Stanford University | Stanford, California, April 2018
PANELIST | MODERATOR
Inclusive Transportation with Veronica O. Davis | BikeWalkKC | March 2024
Multi-Modal Transportation Panel | AIA Kansas City Pillars Leadership Program | February 2024
CIVIC 2022 Virtual Closing Event: “City Innovators Panel” | National Science Foundation and Metrolab | Washington, DC | March 2023
Infrastructure and Sustainability Task Force with the Greater KC Chamber Centurions Program, “Smart City” | Overland Park, KS, February 2020
Safe Streets Summit | We Planned This City on Walk and Roll: Designing Smart Mobility for All, Miami, FL, February 2019
Knight Smart Cities Forum, Hosted by the Knight Foundation | “Roadmap for Resident-Driven Autonomous Vehicle Strategies” | Philadelphia, PA, September 2018
Movin’On Summit 2018, Montreal, QC, June 2018
The Future of the Automobile Conference at the Peterson Automotive Museum | Los Angeles, CA, May 2018
Ilan Studio and the PLATFORM, “How We Move”, Radical Optimism Series, Culver City, CA, January 2018
CityAge 2018 | Los Angeles, CA, Spring 2018
Urbanism Next 2017, University of Oregon | Portland, OR, December 2017
LA CoMotion 2017 | Los Angeles, November 2017
10th Annual UCLA Downtown Los Angeles Forum on Transportation, Land Use, Environment Connection, “What is a city to do? Discussing future on-the-ground direction” | Los Angeles, CA, April 2017
VerdeXchange Conference 2016 | NextGen Passenger Cars: Will They Be Zero-Emitting, Connected, and Eventually Autonomous? | Los Angeles, CA, January 2016
NewCities Conference 2016, New Cities Foundation | Tokyo, Japan, November 2016
Counselors of Real Estate Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, Spring 2016
Designing Cities Conference 2015 | “Self-Driving Vehicles: Policy and Technology Considerations, ” Austin, TX, 2015
UCLA Transportation Camp | Los Angeles, CA, October 2015
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Tulane University School of Professional Advancement, Adjunct Professor, “Technology and Civic Leadership.” CURRENT.
AIA Kansas City PIERS Mentoring Program participant (2nd non-concurrent year).
University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy, Adjunct Professor “Technology and the City.”