Edna Ledesma & Silvia Vargas - Their Urban Planning Journey

Plan Dulce Podcast

Edna Ledesma
Edna Ledesma is an assistant professor in the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she directs the Kaufman Lab for the Study and Design of Food Systems and Marketplaces. The corpus of her research, teaching, and mentoring focuses on understanding the development of the smart, green, and just 21st century city. Her work seeks to bridge the gap between communities and city governments to help define the planning and design agency of Latinos, a traditionally under-represented group.

She holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Science from Texas A&M University, a Master of Architecture and a Master of Urban Design from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University. She was a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow. She served as a lecturer in the Urban Design program at the University of Texas School of Architecture (UTSOA) from 2014-2018. In 2017, she was the Emerging Scholar of Race & Gender Fellow in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin, and in 2018 she was the Carlos E. Castañeda Postdoctoral Fellow for the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Twitter: @ednaledesma
Silvia Vargas, FAICP

Silvia is a professional planner with more than 28 years of experience. In her practice of planning, she always strives to increase understanding of the value of the profession, to raise the bar of civic discourse, and to empower stakeholders to claim ownership in the community planning and plan implementation processes. Currently, Silvia is a Principal Planner in the Miami office of Calvin, Giordano & Associates, where she works on a variety of long-range and current planning projects, as well as providing creative public engagement for South Florida communities.

Silvia has been committed to the advancement of the planning profession through her active involvement with APA and allied organizations for well over a decade. In addition to her continued participation in local and state leadership, she served on the AICP Commission between 2016 and 2020. She also chaired the College of AICP Fellows Committee and the AICP Exam Committee and, currently, she is the Chair of the APA Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She’s often in demand as a speaker on career development topics, public engagement, and ethics.

In 2017, Silvia became the first Latina to receive a Distinguished Alumna award from the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design for her contributions to the profession. Her collaborative work on the 2012-2014 Pop-Up to Permanent park initiative as part of the executive leadership of the APA FL Gold Coast Section was awarded the APA FL 2014 Award for a Grassroots Initiative and the APA 2015 National Grassroots Award, and remains one of Silvia’s proudest accomplishments.

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/silviaevargas

Twitter: @svargas_planner
Hosts: Leonor Vanik & Grecia White
Editor: James Castañeda