Harvard Graduate School of Design student Paige Peltzer (MUP ‘16) has been elected to the American Planning Association’s (APA) Student Representatives Council Executive Committee. She will serve as a regional representative for planning students in New England and the mid-Atlantic.
Through APA-registered Planning Student Organizations (PSO), the APA helps strengthen student connections to local chapters and foster relationships among planning students on campus. One PSO representative from each of the APA’s six electoral regions is elected to serve on the executive committee.
“I’m excited to better connect young planners to the APA network and resources available to them,” Peltzer says. “I know it’s easy to get caught up in the school and work environment, but I want to remind students that they have a great learning opportunity in connecting with fellow planners through the American Planning Association.”
Peltzer has long held an interest in planning and the APA. Arriving at the GSD, Peltzer was surprised to find the school lacked an official APA student group but grew interested in the APA’s informal connection to the Harvard Urban Planning Organization (HUPO), the GSD’s group for planning students.
Promising to better integrate GSD students into the APA, Peltzer was elected HUPO’s APA Liaison and Community Outreach Chair last spring. That initial election propelled her into the APA’s Student Representatives Council, which includes one student from each planning program in the U.S.
Peltzer aims to create more links between planning students and recent graduates through increased access to and marketing of the APA’s networking opportunities, professional development programming, and other events. She hopes to bolster student interest in the APA’s networking and programming.
“It is wonderful to have Paige represent Harvard and the region on the APA Student Representatives Council Executive Committee,” says Ann Forsyth, director of the MUP program at the GSD. “HUPO is a very active student group, and Paige can help the program link that student activity to the wider APA network.”
Photo: Peltzer presenting at Spring 2015 final reviews at the GSD.