Donald E. Zizzi has been an adjunct professor in Boston University’s Department of City Planning & Urban Affairs since 2006 teaching courses in planning, regionalism, and economic issues. As a Senior Research Associate at Northeastern’s Center for Urban and Regional Policy, he managed their Economic Development Partnership program which collected and analyzed municipal and regional economic development best practices and lessons learned.

Don is also a visiting lecturer in UMass Lowell’s Department of Regional Economic and Social Development, and a Senior Fellow in UML’s Center for Industrial Competitiveness. He has consulted with public and community organizations on attracting private investment and developing the resources needed to create healthy sustainable communities. He also has assisted both private business clients and academic institutions in strategic planning and on issues of competitiveness, innovation, and workforce development.

Prior to entering academia, Don had extensive planning and management experience in both the public and private sectors. During his more than twenty years in public service, he served as the Executive Director of Nashua Regional Planning Commission and chief planner in Schenectady County, NY, before that. In the private sector, he managed U.S. remote facility development and operations for a Silicon Valley based technology firm, and he headed the company’s strategic planning initiative to support future business opportunities and to plot the course for the company’s global expansion.

A resident of Nashua, NH, he was one of the founding members of their former Center for Economic Development, serving eight years on its executive committee and helping to establish its innovative business incubator. He has also served on the State of New Hampshire’s Economic Development Advisory Council, the board of directors of the Gateway Industrial development Corporation, and is currently vice chairman of the City of Nashua’s Business and Industrial Development Agency.

Don received his BA from Fordham University and his MPA from SUNY’s Rockefeller School of Public Affairs and Policy. He has continued his studies and research in the field of urban and development economics at both the New School for Social Research and Columbia University, specializing in America’s older industrial cities and in community wealth creation.