Michaela A. Email & Phone Number

Manage and lead the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge, a $40 million initiative designed to inspire, propel and scale housing solutions in financing, construction, and access and resident support.

Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

• Manage all aspects of community engagement and negotiation projects, including client/funder and stakeholder communications, quality assurance, logistics/planning, project budget, and representation of project outcomes.
• Develop high quality, nuanced proposals with complex process design that effectively address client concerns and objectives
• Effectively manage and supervise all members of project teams, including oversight and mentoring of other staff and student interns

Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

Charlottesville, Virginia Area

• Lead and support long-range planning efforts, including small area, corridor and master plans
• Develop and lead creative community engagement strategies that seek to bring underrepresented perspectives to planning and development processes
• Develop educational materials and trainings on planning and development processes (e.g. interactive board game, Youtube videos, online and print resources)
• Prepare and present research and reports to a broad array of audiences from community members to partner organizations, agencies and elected officials
• Collaborate with partner agencies, local organizations and stakeholders to implement recommendations in long-range planning documents
• Staff liaison to neighborhood community committees regarding long-range planning updates, development proposals and County capital projects

Charlottesville, Virginia Area

• Oversee and implement completion of grant deliverables, manage contractors, disseminate research findings and represent Thriving Cities Lab program publicly
• Manage and co-author "The Field Guide for Urban University-Community Partnerships" funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, a guide including: analysis of community partnership practices at 100 institutions of higher.
• Shape the Lab’s research agenda, pursue new research and funding opportunities, and build cross-disciplinary and cross-city strategic partnerships
• Collaborate with other teams at Thriving Cities Group to integrate and disseminate research findings from practice and contribute to thought leadership

Washington, District Of Columbia

• Lead and support community-engaged design and planning projects; responsibilities included: project setup, internal/external communication, design and planning deliverables, timeline, budget, project management, and.
• Projects included: Arts & cultural strategies and graphic design for the 11th Street Bridge Park's Equitable Development Plan; Rural Placemaking, a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Knowledge Building Grant with.
• Manage local Activating Vacancy projects, [bc]'s creative placemaking initiative focused on bringing people together to share food, stories, art, experience, and histories as well as enabling neighbors to talk, to.
• Support new project development, including potential client/partner meetings, fundraising and grantwriting
• Maintain active website and social media presence through web posts and updates

• Site research, planning, design & grantwriting for projects that support human and environmental health at the University of Virginia and Charlottesville community
• Support website development through the use of blog posts and social media
• Establish and foster community partnerships for collaboration on research and design projects

Charlottesville, Virginia Area

• Lecture, grade, and mentor students for Global Sustainability, Community Food Systems and Healthy Cities
• Collaborate with instructor to create and select course materials, including readings, syllabi, and grading rubrics
• Assist instructor with administrative tasks such as tracking student attendance and updating course "UVa Collab" website
• Coordinate student projects with community organizations

Charlottesville, Virginia Area

• Project site reconnaissance and design
• Support Grounds Improvement Fund projects
• Conduct post-occupancy assessments of capital project landscapedesigns
• Research various topics within the fields of landscape architecture andcampus planning

• Prepare the park Master Plan document detailing the administrative history, natural and cultural resource inventories, management goals and objectives, and design strategies for the 63-acre Van Clief Nature Area
• Organize and conduct stakeholder and public meetings regarding the Master Plan document

• Use Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping software and database tools to maintain County data related to aspects of local planning including zoning, land use, historic preservation, conservation and environmental.
• Research and interpret data collected from fieldwork
• Create reports based on analysis of County data

• Assisted County energy management program by tracking energy use with data management software
• Developed strategies to ensure the County reaches energy conservation goals
• Facilitated the County’s participation in Better World Betty’s “Better Business Challenge (BBC)” by increasing local business participation, creating outreach materials, and organizing a “Lunch ‘N Learn” educational.

• Researched the meaning of “nature play” in Boulder and published an inventory report summarizing all of the nature play opportunities in the City’s 80+ facilities with recommendations for the Parks Planning Division.
• Documented existing nature play and educational opportunities by creating a photo library of existing facilities
• Organized public outreach events and created digital marketing materials for use on the City of Boulder’s website

Master'S Degree, Urban And Environmental Planning

Certificate Of Proficiency

• Participated in a direct exchange study abroad program • Took classes in Anthropology, Environmental Sciences and Statistics

Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.), Environmental Thought & Practice And Environmental Sciences