Allentza Michel is an urban planner, social practice artist, equitable public policy advocate, and researcher with over 25 years of experience in community and economic development, education, food security, public health, and transportation. Growing up in a historically underserved neighborhood of Boston sparked her passion for equitable community development, inclusive co-designed processes, and social justice.

Allentza first discovered planning through community organizing. Like many youth of color, she hadn’t been exposed to planning as a career path. Initially planning to study medicine, life events shifted her course: first to youth work, then to a community development nonprofit, where involvement in land use projects introduced her to urban planning.

She went on to earn bachelor’s degrees in English and Social and Political Systems from Pine Manor College; a master’s in Public Policy from Tufts University’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, concentrating in community development and transportation policy; and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Institute of Nonprofit Practice. She also studied Civic Media and Art Practice at Emerson College.

Her career has included work with a wide range of organizations: the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, a nationally known community development nonprofit with the first community land trust to exercise eminent domain; the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Boston’s regional planning agency; and the City of Cambridge Coordinating Council on Children, Youth, and Families, a policy board shaping local policies affecting young people and families.

Allentza later founded Powerful Pathways, an award-winning civic design lab and public interest consultancy leading urban planning, placekeeping, and research projects. Its work emphasizes meaningful community involvement, media arts integration, design thinking, and equity-driven practices. Over the past decade, Powerful Pathways has served communities across the nation, reaching more than 12 million people. The firm’s projects often present innovative approaches that amplify marginalized voices.

For example, when assisting the City of Fresno and Groundwork USA with the Southwest Fresno Brownfields Initiative, residents’ distrust of city processes kept public participation low. Under Allentza’s leadership, Powerful Pathways created the PhotoVoice program, teaching local youth digital photography to capture insights about redevelopment opportunities. The project encouraged youth to involve their parents and neighbors in visioning, and the EPA regional director praised it as the most youth-involved initiative she had ever seen.

Another notable effort was the Blue Bikes expansion outreach. Boston’s bike share system had long struggled with equitable distribution, serving downtown more than low-income neighborhoods. As Blue Bikes prepared to expand, Powerful Pathways trained local residents to appear in an ad campaign. The strategy not only saved the company $30,000 but also turned those residents into biking ambassadors who connected bike share to their communities.

Allentza also worked extensively on the Fairmount Indigo Corridor project in Boston, supporting the redevelopment of a long-dismantled rail line. Over more than 12 years in different roles, she contributed to the construction of four new transit stations, as well as housing, business, and cultural initiatives in underserved neighborhoods along the corridor.

Her powerful work has earned her national recognition. She received the Perez Prize in Civic Design and Public Art in June 2021 and was named to Forbes’ Next 1000 later that year, among many other distinctions.

Allentza is proud to be a planner. Her knowledge and skills have empowered her to address the structural inequities she grew up with. “Now,” she says, “I can focus on other communities and support them the way I wish my neighborhood was supported.”

She notes that planning is often treated as a technical field, where social needs are secondary. But new generations of planners, she observes, are seeking more balanced approaches. She urges emerging leaders to see themselves not only as planners but as agents of social change.

How can they make sure their voices are heard? “Just keep speaking up!” she advises. “As a Black woman who preached equity long before it became popular in the sector, I’ve faced a lot of backlash. I was once even forced out of a job for standing up to a racist executive director. Yet I never stopped being a planner for equity, because I know that if I don’t help raise awareness in my field, things won’t change. We all have to have courage.”

Allentza lives this commitment by teaching racial equity in planning at Northeastern and Tufts Universities, continuing to inspire the next generation of planners to pair technical expertise with social justice.

Education: Tufts University, Boston, MA, Master of Public Policy 

APA Divisions: Arts and Planning Division, City Planning and Management Division, Housing and Community Development Division, New Urbanism Division, Regional and Intergovernmental Planning Division, Transportation Planning Division, Urban Design and Preservation Division, Women and Planning Division, Planning and the Black Community Division

States Lived: California, Massachusetts

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