The National Charrette Institute (NCI) is a nonprofit educational institution. We teach the transformative process of Dynamic Planning to create healthy community plans.

We help people build community capacity for collaboration to create healthy community plans. We teach professionals and community leaders the art and science of Dynamic Planning, a holistic, collaborative planning process that harnesses the talents and energies of all interested parties to create and support a feasible plan. And we advance the fields of community planning and public involvement through research and publications.

Bill Lennertz, Steve Coyle and Aarin Lutzenhiser co-founded NCI in order to create the first professional education venue for the Charrette and the Dynamic Planning Process. Bill Lennertz, NCI’s Executive Director, is leading the organization in new research efforts, program development, and teaching methodologies. His experience as manager of more than 150 New Urbanist Charrettes is the foundation for the Dynamic Planning curriculum.

  Staff

   Bill Lennertz, AIA, CNU, Executive Director

Bill Lennertz, AIA, is a leading NCI Charrette facilitator and practicing New Urbanist. First as Director of the Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) Boston office in 1986, and from 1993-2002, as a partner with Lennertz Coyle & Associates, Bill has directed over 150 charrettes. The charrette projects for both public and private clients range from main street revitalizations, town centers and affordable housing, to complete, new neighborhoods and communities. By incorporating the charrette process in a broad range of challenging projects, Bill has encountered virtually every type of political, economic, and design problem that challenges the principles and practice of New Urbanism. As a registered architect, a master urban designer, and a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Bill has the professional experience needed to lead successful charrette teams.

As lead trainer for NCI, Bill has trained top staff from such organizations as the Environmental Protection Agency, US General Services Administration, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fannie Mae Foundation, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and the Department of Transportation in Oregon, New York, and Arizona. Bill is also principal author of the NCI Dynamic Planning curriculum as well as other tools, presentations, and publications. He is the co-editor and essayist of Towns and Town-Making Principles, a monograph on DPZ, and a contributor to the Charter of the New Urbanism. Bill has taught at various universities including Harvard, where he received his Masters of Architecture in Urban Design.

Bill co-founded NCI to help people create healthy communities by researching and teaching the art and science of the charrette and other transformative public involvement processes. NCI is the first professional education venue for the charrette and the dynamic planning process.

   Aarin Lutzenhiser, Director of Operations

Aarin Lutzenhiser, NCI’s Director of Operations, is responsible for oversight of strategic planning, financial planning, and planning and coordinating NCI programs and courses. She is a co-author of the NCI Dynamic Planning and charrette training curriculum and is closely involved with course preparation and training delivery. Aarin also oversees NCI’s operations and research and development efforts for new projects and programs. She is a meeting facilitator and has training in group consensus building and decision-making processes, and works with clients on meeting planning, preparation and set-up.

Prior to co-founding NCI, Aarin worked as the Business Manager for Lennertz Coyle & Associates (LCA), Architects and Town Planners where she managed the firm’s finances, human resources and project management process. She participated in LCA Charrettes, coordinating and advising on technical and production issues and assisting with design production and presentations. Aarin has been involved in New Urbanist planning projects throughout Oregon and public involvement teaching and training programs throughout the country. Aarin received a Bachelor of Arts from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.  

   Tamara Failor, Program Coordinator

Tamara manages NCI training logistics and assists in the development, editing and distribution of NCI’s products and publications.  She is responsible for membership coordination, product sales management and database maintenance.

Prior to joining NCI, Tamara was Community Development Intern at Tualatin Valley Housing Partners, a CDC in Beaverton, OR.  Funded in part by a grant from Enterprise, she assisted with the planning and development of Merlo Station Apartments, a transit-oriented affordable housing complex.  Before transitioning to the intern position, Tamara served as an AmeriCorps member with TVHP.

Tamara currently serves on the Tools for Living Vision Council for the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.  Her interests include community planning, sustainable development, and law. Tamara is a former Fulbright grantee and received a Bachelor of Arts from Reed College in Portland, OR.

  Board of Directors

   David Brain, PhD

David Brain studied architecture at the University of Cincinnati before an interest in urban issues led him to a BA in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in sociology at Harvard University.   He taught at Harvard and Indiana University before joining the faculty at New College of Florida.  As a part of his research on the connections between place-making, community-building, and civic engagement, he has observed over two dozen charrettes.  His experience has included consulting on master planning and public process, directing neighborhood-oriented action research projects that engage students in collaboration with local community groups, contributing to educational programs for citizens and practitioners, and lecturing internationally on urban design and planning.  He is on the board of directors of the Seaside Institute and the Florida House Institute for Sustainable Development.  He is also a partner in High Cove, a village in the mountains of western North Carolina designed as an experiment in ecologically responsible development practices.   

   Steve Coyle, AIA

Steve Coyle, AIA, CNU, founding partner of LCA Town Planning & Architecture, currently with Town Green, has over 30 years of experience as an architect, town planner, urban designer, and public facilitator in a wide range of public and private projects around the nation.  His specialty is planning new communities and neighborhoods, and redeveloping older public and private cities, districts, corridors, and blocks. As former partners at Lennertz, Coyle and Associates, Steve Coyle and Bill Lennertz, along with their associates and consultants, created the plans for Fairview Village, the Pleasant Hill BART Station, Astoria’s Mill Pond, Oregon’s first “brownfield” neighborhood redevelopment, and many other innovative projects.

   Donna Gerber

Donna Gerber is the Director of Government Relations for the California Nurses Association, representing 50,000 Registered Nurses and their advocacy for quality patient care. She has a diverse background which includes being an advocate for nurses and other health care workers as well as being an elected County Supervisor and State Assembly Democratic candidate.

First elected to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors in 1996 and re-elected in 2000, Donna Gerber has distinguished herself as one of the most effective leaders in the Bay Area on diverse issues ranging from smart growth to quality health care.

   David C. Leland, CRE

David Leland is the Managing Director of Leland Consulting Group based in Portland, Oregon with offices in Denver, Colorado and San Diego, California. David has 38 years of experience in the real estate industry as a consultant, advisor, developer, and owner. He has personally conducted more than 2,500 real estate assignments in North America and Asia. Formerly a CEO of a real estate acquisition and development subsidiary of a multi-state Fortune 500 corporation, David is a member of The Counselors of Real Estate and has a strong working knowledge of real estate acquisition, development and management. He understands the linkage and interdependence between location, program, design, market strength and focus, cost of capital, community relations, and timing that provides real estate development with its competitive edge.

Leland Consulting Group serves public and private development interests throughout America. David’s areas of special interest include new urbanist communities, revitalizing downtowns through mixed-use projects employing the principles of smart development and new urbanism, place making, and public-private partnerships. He is a development advisor to many agencies and corporations on new urbanist development, transit-oriented urban redevelopment, and downtown, town center, and corridor revitalization. David is a member of ULI—the Urban Land Institute, a national speaker on place making, a panel member and chair with the ULI Advisory Services program, a participant in ULI invitational Mayors’ Conferences, an advisor to the Portland State University College of Urban and Public Affairs, and a member of the Congress for New Urbanism.

   Marcy McInelly, AIA

Marcy McInelly, AIA; Founder, Urbsworks; SERA Architecture and Urban Design. Marcy McInelly has practiced architecture and urban design for almost 25 years in New York City and Portland, Oregon. In 1995, she founded Urbsworks, a Portland-based firm, and redirected her expertise to the often-neglected space between buildings. Urbsworks' portfolio consists of town plans, infill and redevelopment strategies, zoning and form-base codes, public involvement, and the integration of transit and transportation facilities into communities. Urbsworks' award-winning projects include the Lloyd Crossing Sustainable Urban Design Plan, the Roseway Vision Plan, the New Columbia HOPE VI community and school, and NorthWest Crossing.

Marcy served as an appointed member of the Portland Planning Commission from 1997 until May of 2002 and she is a founding member of the Portland metropolitan region Coalition for a Livable Future, a network of 60 non-profit and community-based organizations working together for regional growth management. She is a graduate of the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Marcy serves as co-chair of CNU's Transportation Task Force. Earlier this year she merged her company Urbsworks with SERA Architecture and Urban Design, a 100-person Portland-based firm.

   Joseph R. Molinaro, AICP

Joseph R. Molinaro is the Manager of Smart Growth Programs for the National Association of REALTORS® in Washington, DC.  In this capacity, he manages NAR’s Smart Growth efforts, which include REALTOR® training, technical assistance on land use regulation to state and local REALTOR® associations, voter surveys on growth issues, research, and publication of the On Common Ground magazine.  He also provides support to NAR’s Smart Growth and Livable Communities federal legislative agenda. 

Prior to joining NAR in 2000, Mr. Molinaro was Director of Land Development Services for the National Association of Home Builders.  In this position, he introduced New Urbanism to the educational programs for builders, and organized conferences and tours of New Urbanism projects in several cities.  He also was editor of Land Development magazine. Mr. Molinaro holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Tech and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners

   Dan Slone

Dan Slone is a partner in the Richmond office of McGuireWoods LLP, a law firm with offices around the U.S. and overseas.  As a consultant and legal counsel, Dan Slone represents green businesses, localities and developers around the world, advising clients on eco-industrial, traditional town development, distributed generation, sustainable development and business matters. His clients include eco-industrial facilities, and developers of wind farm and biomass projects, as well as developers of sustainable new towns.  He is national counsel for the Congress for the New Urbanism, the Seaside Institute, the U.S. Green Building Council (developers of the LEED™ green building rating system), the World Green Building Council as well as several other prominent organizations.

He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude from Birmingham Southern College with degrees in Philosophy and Political Science.  He graduated with honors from the University of Michigan Law School.  He has written numerous articles and speaks frequently to national audiences regarding responsible development and the legal aspects of town planning.

   Ken Snyder

Ken Snyder is Executive Director of PlaceMatters, a non-profit organization working to promote high performance approaches to citizen collaboration, community design and development. He is a nationally recognized expert on a broad range of technical and non-technical tools for community design and decision-making.

Prior to working for PlaceMatters, Ken worked for the Orton Family Foundation, heading up their Planning Tools Program. Ken also worked for the US Department of Energy as a Community Development Program Specialist. In 2000, he served as co-chair of a committee on information and tools for the White House's Livability Council, developing policy recommendations for the Clinton-Gore report on Building Livable Communities.

Currently, Ken is Chair of the American Planning Association's Technology Division, and sits on the City of Denver's Bicycle Board. He served on the Steering Committee for the national Rail~volution conference for three years and organized and taught full-day training sessions on tools for better land use planning and community development. In 2001, he was selected as a German Marshall Fund Environmental Fellow where he traveled to Europe to study professional peer approaches to land use and transportation planning.

From 1988-1991, he worked for the National Audubon Society where he traveled internationally representing Audubon at international negotiations on climate change. Building on this experience, he organized and taught a graduate level course on International Environmental Negotiations while at Yale. He has a double degree from Oberlin College in Biology and Environmental Studies and a Master's Degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

   Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck is a city planner who is known for helping civic leaders make their communities more livable. He recently stepped down from his post as Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts, where he spent four years overseeing the Endowment’s grants in design, as well as two NEA leadership initiatives: Your Town, and the Mayors’ Institute on City Design. Through this second program, he met with more than fifty mayors annually to help them tackle the toughest design challenges facing their cities.

While at the endowment, Jeff also created a new leadership initiative, the Governors’ Institute on Community Design. Run in partnership with the EPA and Smart Growth America, this program works with governors and their cabinets nationwide to create new state policies aimed at encouraging alternatives to suburban sprawl.

Prior to his federal appointment, Jeff spent ten years as Director of Town Planning at Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, generally recognized as the leading practitioners of the New Urbanism. With Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, he was the co-author of Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream, published in 2000 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

  Emeritus Board

    Victor Dover

Victor Dover, principal-in-charge at town planning firm Dover, Kohl and Partners, is one of NCI’s founding board members.  Victor lectures widely around the nation on the topics of livable communities and sustainable development, and has led more than 100 charrettes.  Following Hurricane Katrina, he spearheaded planning in Ocean Springs, MS.

Victor is a charter member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, and was recently appointed to the CNU Board.  He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Miami School of Architecture, his alma mater, and is one of the five CNU representatives on the LEED-ND core committee.  Dover has won multiple CNU Charter Awards, including one for the widely praised town of I’On in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and has been instrumental in establishing the Form-Based Codes Institute.

   Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, F.A.I.A.

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk is a founding principal of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Town Planners and Architects (DPZ). DPZ is a leader in the New Urbanism, which seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. The firm’s method of integrating planning with accompanying design codes and regulations is currently being applied in towns and cities in areas ranging from 14 to 10,000 acres throughout the United States, as well as in Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Jamaica, the Philippines and Turkey. DPZ has received numerous awards, including two State of Florida governors’ Urban Design Awards for Excellence. The new town of Seaside, Florida was described by Time magazine as “the most astounding design achievement of its era.” Plater-Zyberk is also the Dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture, where she has taught since 1979. Currently a member of Princeton University’s Board of Trustees, Plater-Zyberk received her undergraduate degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton and her master’s degree in architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. Most recently, she co-authored the book Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream.

   Laurie Volk

Laurie Volk is principal in charge of Zimmerman/Volk Associates’ market studies and is the firm’s primary analyst of demographic, market, and lifestyle trends. Her development and direction of research methodology for the company, as well as her groundbreaking application of geo-demographics to real estate market dynamics, have been instrumental in bringing Zimmerman/Volk Associates into national prominence. Among Volk’s efforts has been the development of analytical tools to determine the market potential for two critical initiatives: the mixed-income, mixed-tenure repopulation and stabilization of fragile inner-city neighborhoods, and new mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented traditional neighborhood developments. Volk is on the Board of Directors of the Seaside Institute.

  Advisory Board

   G.B. Arrington

G. B. Arrington is Parson Brinckerhoff’s most senior practitioner in the field of linking transit and land use. For the last 20+ years G. B. has played a key role in the Portland region’s innovative experiment to reinvent the American dream of a livable community by marrying transportation and land use. He was asked by the White House to organize and moderate Vice President Gore’s first Livable Communities roundtable and has served as an advisor to the Federal Transit Administration and communities from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Perth, Western Australia interested in growing smart. He is one of the founders of the RailVolution Conference and frequently writes and speaks on smart growth and transportation and has been interviewed on PBS television, National Public Radio and quoted extensively in books and articles on light rail, transit-oriented development and regional planning. G. B. has managed numerous complex interdisciplinary planning projects. The strategic planning work he directed charted an award-winning new direction for Portland’s transit agency. His innovative transit planning and community involvement strategies changed the face of transit in Portland’s suburbs and received a Way to Go Award! from ReNew America and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

   Andres Duany, F.A.I.A.

Andres Duany is a founding principal of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Town Planners and Architects. DPZ is a leader in the New Urbanism, which seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. DPZ first received international recognition as the designers of Seaside, Florida, and has since completed designs for over two hundred new towns, regional plans, and community revitalization projects. These designs are having significant influence in the practice and direction of planning and development in the United States.

Largely responsible for inspiring a new sense of excitement and relevance about the power of urban design, Andres Duany has employed his persuasive speaking and teaching abilities in hundreds of lectures and courses. Addressing architects, professional planning groups, university students, and the general public, he has enlightened many on the threat of suburban sprawl to the future of our human and natural habitats. Andres is a founding member and on the Board of Directors of the Congress for the New Urbanism, established in 1995 with the mission of reforming urban growth patterns. The New York Times has characterized the Congress as “the most important phenomenon to emerge in American architecture in the post-Cold War era.”

   Peter Katz

Author and consultant Peter Katz is regarded as a key spokesperson for the New Urbanism. Mr. Katz played a significant role in shaping the movement as founding Executive Director of the Congress for New Urbanism. He also wrote The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community (McGraw-Hill, 1994). In 1991 Mr. Katz initiated and co-edited The Ahwahnee Principles, a comprehensive statement of sustainable community-building practices that has since been adopted by over 120 cities and counties in the western United States.

Mr. Katz is a professor-in-practice at Virginia Polytechnic Institute’s Northern Virginia Center. He provides consulting services in the areas of strategic marketing and community development from offices in Alexandria, Virginia. He is an associate member of The Citistates Group, a national network of speakers under the leadership of syndicated columnist Neal Peirce. Peter Katz has advised various government agencies, associations, and organizations including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Province of Ontario (Canada), The Community Builders (Cincinnati and Louisville) and Contra Costa County (California). He has addressed a range of university audiences, professional societies, and citizen groups, both nationally and internationally.

    Shelley Poticha

Shelley Poticha joined Reconnecting America in July of 2003 as the Executive Director of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. She oversees the Center’s efforts to help bring TOD to scale as a nationally recognized real estate product. Previously, Shelley was Executive Director of the Congress for the New Urbanism where she guided CNU’s growth into a nationwide coalition with a prominent voice in national debates on urban revitalization, growth policy, and sprawl, and forged alliances with major land development interests, environmental and community organizations, and federal agencies. Shelley had also worked as a Senior Associate with Calthorpe Associates, and had represented the Surface Transportation Policy Project in the San Francisco Bay Area. She lectures widely and has co-authored several significant HUD publications, CNU’s Charter of the New Urbanism, and The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream with Peter Calthorpe. She serves on the board of Smart Growth America. She holds a Masters in City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband and twin daughters.