2023 lineup

Learn more about Dr. Julia Minson's work here.

José Richard Aviles (they/he/elle) works as an Equitable Transportation Analyst at the Othering and Belonging Institute and adjunct professor of planning at UC Berkeley. Aviles is a multimedia artist, urban planner, and social worker based in South Central Los Angeles. Aviles has over 15 years community organizing experience. Aviles is interested in the intersections between space and justice, laughter and resistance, and the magic on stage. Aviles teaches Community Organizing for Urban Planners (COUP), which bridges the disciplines of urban planning, social work, and community organizing, by proposing an alternative discourse beyond historical planning literature– a discourse inherently gendered, rooted in white supremacy and settler colonialism. At the basis of community organizing lies two core principles 1) a deep commitment to the unlearning of said discourse and 2) reimagination of a new world. 

Taru (she/her) is a PhD student in Urban Planning at Taubman College. Taru’s work primarily situates itself in international and post-colonial territories and is deeply engaged with normative planning theories and their application in places with plural institutions, structural violence, and difference. Her current dissertation focuses on the role plural institutions and community networks can play to effectively address disaster- specifically looking at COVID response in ordinary cities. Taru is currently engaged with the Jharkhand State Control Room, while the state sought to rescue more than 1.5 million migrant workers, as well as the health-based, and socio-economic concerns among the transient and vulnerable populations within the state. This research examines the roles social movements and civil society play in service delivery and everyday governance, especially in areas facing structural violence and conflict. She has completed a Masters of Regional Planning from AAP, and a Sustainable Global Enterprise Immersion from SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University; and a Certificate in African Studies, LSA, University of Michigan, focusing primarily on African Cities. 

Yodit Mesfin Johnson (she/her) is a mother, poet, activist and strategist with an abolitionist mind and a visionary heart, holding love as a guiding value, a way of being, an action and a politic. She is a co-founder of FutureRoot, founder of Black Men Read, a member of the Coalition on Re-Envisioning Safety (CROS), and a community partner of Black Washtenaw County, documenting local racism and resistance. She thrives in building community around the questions that matter most; how can we unlock the potential and possibility needed to radically transform our communities, see the ecosystem and the whole, and design and act in ways that bend the long arc of history towards balance and harmony? Yodit uses various mediums, including poetry, writing and storytelling as tools in her organizing, activism and in the rewriting of her own personal narrative. She lives, works and plays on the occupied land of the Anishinaabeg, commonly called Washtenaw County and holds deeply the belief that the upliftment, freedom, and dignity of African people on the continent and in the diaspora is tied to the freedom and dignity of all Indigenous peoples.

Jessica Letaw (she/her) is a local community organizer and advocate for housing abundance and affordability. She is a co-founder of FutureRoot. Jessica also founded Building Matters, an Ann Arbor non-profit devoted to local architecture and the built environment. Jess is an advisory board member of Justice InDeed and educates the community around racially restrictive covenants on housing deeds.

Juan Jhong Chung (any pronouns) is a queer immigrant, born in Peru, of Indigenous Chanka and Cantonese Chinese ancestry. Juan is the current Climate Justice Director for the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition. He is passionate about creating ecological futures that center the lived experiences and knowledge of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color as well as other disadvantaged groups. Juan holds dual masters degrees from the School of Environment and Sustainability and the Urban and Regional Planning Program at the University of Michigan. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University. Juan brings to MEJC a diverse skill set including policy analysis, activism and advocacy, community planning, and expertise in science & technology. He lives in Detroit, where he organizes for systems change through radical solidarity. 

Valerie Lemmie (she/her) is the director of exploratory research for the Kettering Foundation. An adept strategic thinker with more than 35 years of experience in solving complex problems and controversial issues, Lemmie joined the foundation after a distinguished career in public service. She served as city manager for the cities of Petersburg, Virginia and Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio; commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Ohio; and district director and acting chief of staff for Congressman Turner. Most recently, Lemmie directed the Eastern Interconnection States’ Planning Council, an initiative designed to evaluate transmission grid development options throughout the Interconnection. Lemmie has also served as adjunct professor at Howard University and the University of Dayton and as a fellow at the Center for Municipal Management at George Washington University. Lemmie has served on numerous boards, including Dayton History, Initiatives of Change, National Academy of Public Administration (where she is an elected fellow), House of Representatives Committee on Urban Redevelopment, and President Clinton’s Greenhouse Gas Advisory Committee. A published author and speaker on public policy and utility regulatory issues nationally and internationally, Lemmie received her BA in political science and urban sociology from the University of Missouri and an MA in urban affairs/public policy planning from Washington University.

Mike Huggins (he/him) is a retired Wisconsin city manager and community development director with over 40 years of leadership experience in local government and public engagement. He is a Credentialed Manager with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and served as a Leading Practices Service Provider for the ICMA Center for Management Studies. He was a Senior Lecturer in leadership and citizen engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and founder and former board member of Clear Vision Eau Claire, a 2015 National Finalist for the Harvard University Ash Center Innovations in Public Engagement in Government Award. In 2016-2017 he served as co-chair and lead facilitator for a citizen-led public engagement initiative to address poverty and income insecurity in Eau Claire County. He is a Local Government Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service and serves on the National Civic League Council of Advisors. Mike’s research and training experience includes public engagement and problem solving, civic organizing, local democratic practices, and articles published in Public Management and the National Civic Review. He completed the Gamaliel Network National Leadership Training for community organizers and holds a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Kansas.

Rebecca Karp (she/her) is Managing Principal and CEO of Karp Strategies. Utilizing a data-driven, qualitative, and place-based approach, Rebecca has grown her WBE-, SBE- and DBE- certified company into one of the leading women-owned urban planning and real estate advisory businesses in New York. With extensive experience in planning, analysis, and stakeholder development, Rebecca is a trusted advisor to real estate developers, energy companies, community organizations, and government agencies across the nation. In 2020, under Rebecca’s leadership, Karp Strategies launched a new practice area in offshore wind and renewable energy. The firm is dedicated to the development of the clean energy industry as a key means to create thriving inclusive economies and a sustainable future. Karp Strategies has supported NYSERDA with the creation of a free, open-source offshore wind curriculum aimed at teenagers and educators and developed the agency’s Guiding Principles for Stakeholder Engagement for developers; assessed the feasibility of port infrastructure for OSW; analyzed MWBE procurement in the supply chain in Maine; and supported Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind with their stakeholder engagement strategy. The firm is also growing its practice in economic and workforce development. This includes an analysis of the life science sector in New York City. It has also continued its work in planning including work on stakeholder engagement, master planning and transportation and land use in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Rebecca is a board member of the Center for Urban Pedagogy and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of Preservation, Architecture, and Planning. Rebecca is an alumna of Interise’s Strategic Steps for Growth MBA at NYU Stern, MIT DUSP, Bowdoin College, and Coro Leadership New York. Rebecca began her career as a policy advisor on workforce and economic development, resiliency, and transportation at city and regional agencies.

The Ginsberg Center’s workshop discusses foundational principles of thoughtfully engaging with diverse communities and explores the impact of social identities and opportunities for engaging in ethical and reciprocal ways. The Edward Ginsberg Center is University of Michigan's civic and community engagement center. The Ginsberg center works across U-M's 19 schools and colleges and with community partners throughout Southeast Michigan and Detroit to unlock the vast resources of the University for the public good. The core mission is to cultivate and steward equitable partnerships between communities and the University of Michigan in order to advance social change. Based upon this mission, our vision is for inclusive democracy; thriving, diverse communities; and equity and social justice. Centered in their principles, our work is focused on: community partnerships, student and faculty preparation, and civic engagement pathways.