https://youtu.be/615Wm4fQH58
September 2022 – Plan Hillsborough was proud to receive an APA Florida Award of Excellence in the Grassroots Initiative category for our Future Leaders in Planning (FLiP) Jr program at the 2022 Florida Planning Conference recently held in Orlando. The APA Florida Project Awards recognize outstanding planning projects in the State of Florida at its conference each year.
Since 2016, Plan Hillsborough’s FLiP summer leadership development program for high school students has been wildly successful at both fostering planning awareness and inspiring future planners. In 2021, Plan Hillsborough developed a new comprehensive Nondiscrimination & Equity Plan. With the goal of establishing more inclusive public engagement, the FLiP Jr program evolved.
Our FLiP Jr program came back stronger this summer! Through partnering with the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association for their summer program, we were able to get young students involved in urban planning. At Dowdell Middle Magnet School in Palm River, Town and Country Elementary, and the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association, all located within communities not typically represented in the planning process, the kids experienced a robust, dynamic, and varied curriculum where they learned about land use principles, transportation strategies, economic development, civic engagement, and concepts of sustainability and equity through hands-on, age-appropriate activities. What set this year apart is the focus of the curriculum on action and ownership, where the kids got to choose and work on what they deemed to be the most pressing issues in their communities.
The curriculum was a success largely due to all the diverse partners and co-teachers that participated. Consultants, developers, landscape architects, gardeners, and our local elected officials provided the many perspectives and talents giving generously of their time and expertise. And the extent of this program would not have been possible without amazing sponsors: the Tampa Bay Maritime Scholarship Foundation, Florida Bicycle Association, Atkins, Patel Greene & Associates, and Real Building Consultants!
The FLiP Jr experience has planted seeds that will continue to grow, significantly impacting diversity in the planning profession and elevating meaningful, grass-roots public engagement imperative for communities with the greatest needs. These kids now understand the power of their own voice and the value of planning in creating greater opportunities, safe spaces, and beautiful places.
Plan Hillsborough featured speakers at Planning Conference
We were also honored to have several of our staff featured on panels at the Conference:
- Planner to Leader: A Mid-Career Bootcamp | Melissa Zornitta, FAICP
- Transportation (R)evolutions | Beth Alden, AICP
- Integrating Neighborhood Commercial: An Update of Hillsborough County’s Commercial Locational Criteria | Melissa Leinhard, AICP & Andrea Papandrew, AICP
- Enhancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Planning Profession – Strategies for Today and Tomorrow | Melissa Dickens, AICP & Melissa Zornitta, FAICP
- 2022 Ethics Cases of the Year | Melissa Zornitta, FAICP
