APA Colorado Board Slate Announced

Communication is not the soft side of planning. It is the work. That belief is the reason I am applying to serve as Vice President of Communications for APA Colorado.

As Community Development Director for the Town of Palisade, I have spent the last two years translating complex policy into language that actually connects with people. I facilitate two public meetings a month where farmers, longtime residents, artists, and new developers all sit in the same room. Getting those conversations to go somewhere productive requires more than expertise. It requires clear, honest communication that meets people where they are.

My professional background spans the full range of what good communications looks like in practice. I have written federal grant narratives that secured over three million dollars in funding for infrastructure projects, including a Bureau of Reclamation grant for a constructed wetlands system that served both water management and community resilience goals. I have developed public-facing policy documents, led stakeholder engagement processes, and translated planning concepts across cultural and language barriers. I have also presented a session at the APA Colorado conference on nature-based solutions for resilience from peaks to plains.

Beyond local work, I was selected as a 2026 Colorado Water Congress Career Accelerator awardee, which has granted me access to state and federal water policy networks. This experience has deepened my understanding of how to communicate across sectors and reach audiences well beyond planning circles.

I hold a Master's in Urban Planning with a focus on spatial sustainability from the University of Amsterdam, and I am actively pursuing AICP certification. My academic background sharpened my ability to connect research and practice in communications, whether that means writing a compelling grant narrative, drafting a policy brief, or building a social media strategy that actually reaches the professionals and communities we serve.

What I want to bring to this role is a communications approach rooted in the full diversity of Colorado planning and open to what lies beyond it. That means amplifying voices from every corner of the state, increasing engagement among emerging planners, and building real collaboration with other APA chapters and international planning communities facing the same questions we are. Good ideas do not stop at state lines

Planning shapes how people live. APA Colorado has a responsibility to make that case clearly and consistently. I am ready to help do that work, thank you for your consideration.

I have practiced as a consultant planner for over 20 years in Colorado and look forward to giving back to the planner community as the chapter's Vice President of Communications. In my role as a Project Manager for over 15 Comprehensive Plans and dozens of other engagements with communities across the region, I have honed my skills in communications and community engagement. I have orchestrated multi-platform engagement as part of planning efforts, including social media, multi-lingual websites, and other interactive tools. I have also developed my skills in public speaking and stakeholder facilitation across many communities. I am passionate about providing transparent, meaningful, and easy to understand communications with communities and my clients.

Following ten years at Design Workshop and two at a planning consultancy in Minneapolis, I joined RICK as a Principal Planner in 2018 to launch a new planning practice for the company here in Colorado. I have built the practice from the ground up with a range of public and private sector clients. I got a taste of involvement with the Colorado APA board by serving as one of the Denver Metro Representatives several years ago. I look forward to the opportunity to rejoin the board to help spread the word about the chapter and to work with my colleagues to increase the visibility and activity of the chapter, across all parts of Colorado.

I believe the Colorado chapter has benefited from relatively good communications over the last several years with members, but there are opportunities for improvement, as technologies and patterns of communication continue to change. I would work to increase the visibility of the chapter on social media and would work with the board and chapter members to include compelling content in our newsletter and other communications. I believe communications for the chapter should involve more than publicizing a roster of events, for example. I believe the chapter should use its mouthpiece as the statewide voice of the planning world to share information about what is working and not working in different communities, in solving different planning issues. I believe our members should receive very clear and useful information about ongoing changes in legislation that may affect them or their communities. We should be very intentional in communicating how members can become more involved in APA and how their voices can continue to be heard.

As a longtime manager, I have always believed in direct and meaningful communication, having an ‘open door policy’, and sharing information effectively with everyone on my teams. I pledge to work to ensure that members across our state, from the Front Range to small towns across the mountains and the Eastern Plains, benefit from effective communication that increases the power of our chapter to serve our members and to help solve the many planning challenges facing our communities and our state. I thank you in advance for your support.

Hello Colorado Planners! My name is Ryan Hawkes, and I have spent the past 17 years working within—and in support of—local and state public agencies. My professional background is rooted in transportation planning, with a strong emphasis on funding strategies as well as grant development and management. I would be honored to support the Colorado APA Chapter by serving in the role of Treasurer.

I was born and raised in the Seattle area and spent seven years at the Seattle Department of Transportation, where I supported capital projects and planning initiatives as a grants and contracts analyst. I later joined WSP, where I have worked for nearly ten years. In that role, I supported the California High-Speed Rail Authority in advancing the nation’s first fully high‑speed rail system. Since relocating to Denver, my work has expanded to supporting clients across the country in securing federal and state funding, developing long‑term funding strategies, and managing grant programs. I have learned much about the devleopment of professional strategies for communicating data and project benefits with over $2 billion in funding secured in the last six years.  

I am seeking the role of Treasurer to bring strong fiscal stewardship, transparency, and long-term financial thinking to the Chapter’s Board. In addition to my professional experience, I bring a deep commitment to community service and nonprofit governance. I have served as Secretary and President of my neighborhood association, Treasurer for my HOA and a family business, and as the founder of an Urban Farming Collective in Seattle focused on expanding access to community-based food systems. These roles reflect my belief in locally driven solutions, civic engagement, and the value of volunteer leadership—all principles aligned with APA’s purpose.

I believe that year-round engagement, outreach, and education are critical to supporting planners at all career stages and sustaining a healthy professional organization. By thoughtfully growing Chapter programming—not only as a benefit for members, but also through partnerships, sponsorships, and responsible revenue generation—the Chapter can expand access to learning opportunities, support emerging professionals, and enhance its role as a trusted voice for planning across Colorado. As Treasurer, I would be committed to supporting young professionals, fostering an inclusive and diverse membership, and helping position the Colorado APA Chapter to advance equitable outcomes for communities across the state. 

The Board plays an essential role as a connector—linking planners, community organizations, agencies, and educational institutions throughout Colorado. I would be honored to contribute to this effort, support the continuation of the Chapter’s strong leadership, and help ensure that APA Colorado remains a welcoming, resilient, and forward-looking organization. I respectfully ask for your vote for Treasurer.

My name is Christy Wiseman and I am honored to be your incumbent APA Colorado Treasurer. I have been your Treasurer since 2025 and am running to serve a second term. I am an AICP-certified planner and have been a member of APA Colorado since moving to Colorado in May 2018. My background is in land use planning and affordable housing. I have a B.S. degree in Environmental Geography from Ohio University and a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Ohio State University. In my professional career thus far, I have been a Long Range Planner for Boulder County, the Land Use and Water Planner for the Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ (DOLA) Community Development Office, a Housing Developer with Boulder County Housing Authority, and the City of Longmont’s Housing Investment Manager. As your Treasurer, I have striven to continue the great work of previous Treasurers by using zero-based budgeting to uphold fiscal stewardship of members' dues and other chapter resources while growing the services the chapter can offer. In my term thus far, we planned and executed the financially successful 2025 Western Slope Planning Conference and approved a realistic 2026 budget. I have also been involved in the Board's work to streamline our Strategic Plan and focus on a smaller number of timely, actionable goals to serve our membership. My background in grant management and housing development finance has translated well into the budgeting and financial duties of this role and I would be honored to continue serving you as APA Colorado's Treasurer.

I am nominating myself to serve as the Southwest area representative of the Colorado APA. My background story is as follows. I would appreciate your consideration.

I arrived at the profession of planning by the indirect route of architecture and historic preservation. My carrier in architecture came about with my internship in Butte Montana after graduating with 2 degrees in architecture form Washington State University in Pullman Washington, also my birthplace. I was looking for a challenge from the protected suburban life of a university town and found it in Montana. Butte was a declining working class town that was soon to be named as a national priority EPA Superfund site with its unionized mining operations to close its gates. The city once known as the Gibraltar of Unionism and Richest Hill on Earth had its death announced by the National Press. Circumstances after internship had me working for the consolidated government of Butte - Silver Bow, first with housing rehabilitation with Federal Block Grant funds and soon after the added responsibility as the Community Preservation Officer with Butte as a Certified Local Government (CLG). Butte as a designated National Historic Landmark District listed in the National Register of Historic Places had significant requirements under NEPA and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. I was thrust into 106 compliance in the situation of mitigating impacts to the loss of historic resources while environmental cleanup took place. Planning a solution was key in providing a safe environment, economic development, recreation, historic preservation and interpretation. The 1993 Regional Historic Preservation Plan document was the focus of efforts where I was extensively involved in its concepts and implementation. I was not at this time a "Planner" but had been thrust into the experience of planning and had not realized it at the time. Products such as the Granite Mountain Speculator Memorial Overlook (June 8th 1917 greatest loss of life hard-rock (168 men) mine fire), Mine Yard Preservation, and Belmont Hoist House Senior Center (adaptive reuse) were some of my accomplishments.

Leaving government I pursued private practice but when presented the opportunity to assist another Rocky Mountain mining town and historic landmark I moved to Silverton Colorado as the Planning Director. Though I was not aligned with APA I was still administering local planning activities. Small town politics being what they are I moved to look for other opportunities. I came to the realization that I had been doing planning while not being fulling immersed in official planning. This is when I decided to apply my skills and experiences to join APA and to become a certified planner AICP. I did a stint in Flagstaff AZ as Heritage Preservation Officer and Neighborhood Planner with AICP certification.

We had retained our historic home in Silverton CO and have returned back to Colorado in the heart of Southwest Colorado mining history in the San Juan Mountain. I am practicing planning and architecture under the name of Community Preservation Design LLC. I feel that my experience of more than 4 decades in planning and designing preservation of communities would be valuable to the Colorado Chapter of the APA as the Southwest area representative.

Mark Reavis, AICP/ NCARB architect MT, AZ, CO 

Hello! I'm a civil engineer and planner at Generations. 
I think planners and civil engineers are a dream match and I'd like to get involved by representing the South Central Area.