Puget Sound Section

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Board of Directors

President	Ray Gastil, AICP	Gastilworks
Communications	Kara Doersam, LEED AP	Kimley-Horn
Secretary	Emily Arteche, AICP	City of Walla Walla
Treasurer/Past President	Manuel Soto (AICP)	Jarrett Walker & Associates
Professional Development	Ariam Ford, AICP	Uncommon Bridges
King County Representative	Nancy Ferber, AICP	Puget Sound Regional Council
Pierce County Representative	Shirley Schultz, AICP	City of Tacoma
Snohomish County Representative	Matthew Siddons, AICP	Snohomish County
Student Representative	Noal Leonetti	UW Seattle MUP Program

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New Programs

Pilot Program for State Conference Scholarships

Congrats to all of the 2025 State Conference scholarship recipients! Due to a great response, there are no more scholarships available. The program was established this year to support the pipeline of new planners, including students and emerging professional planners, in the PSS region (Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties). The Puget Sound Section looks forward to offering a similar program for next year’s 2026 conference.

The Puget Sound Section of the American Planning Association Washington Chapter is very pleased to announce a pilot program of scholarships to support attendance at the 2025 Conference, October 8-10, in Tacoma. The purpose of this pilot program is to support the pipeline of new planners, including students and emerging professional planners, in the PSS region (Snohomish, King, and Pierce counties).

The 2025 scholarships will be applied to the conference registration fees for the conference, and will provide up to ten students with $150, and up to ten emerging planners with $250, in recognition that registration costs are higher for non-students.

Eligible students include those currently enrolled in the following degree programs in PSS area:

UW Seattle--Master of Urban Planning (MUP) or BA in Community, Environment & Planning (CEP).
UW Tacoma--BA in Urban Studies, BA in Sustainable Development, BS in Urban Design, and MA in Community Planning.

Eligible emerging planners include:

Recent graduates of accredited planning degree programs who graduated no later than five years before the conference (before October 8, 2020); who also confirm that they are experiencing a financial challenge defined as; job loss/unemployment; an employer that does not pay for ongoing education; or status as a volunteer for a community that does not pay for ongoing education.

Process: Students and Emerging Planners interested in the scholarship can apply by going to this link: State Conference Scholarship Application. Scholarships will be awarded on a first come first serve basis for complete applications.

Note: This is a scholarship application and is not a registration for the conference, which is a separate process. Please consider that conference registration fees go up after August 27. To get the most benefit out of the scholarship amounts, we encourage students and emerging planners to apply soon!

Upcoming Events

Register for the Webinar Here

Recent Events

Thursday, May 29, 2025, 4:30-8:00 | Networking Event at Stoup Brewing Capitol Hill (1158 Broadway, Seattle WA) $5 registration gets you two drink tickets!

Tuesday, June 17, Noon | Webinar on Planning and Law Speaker: Tim Trohimovich, Director of Planning and Law, Futurewise

Tuesday, July 1, Noon | Ethics in Planning Speakers: Karen Wolf FAICP, Immediate Past President, AICP, Affiliate Instructor, University of Washington; Steve Butler FAICP, Planning and Policy Manager, Municipal Research and Services Center.

Webinars and Recordings

The Puget Sound Section organizes and hosts periodic webinars covering a variety of topics. This is an opportunity to hear about planning efforts going on around the region and earn CM Credits while you're at it! You can access our recent webinar recordings and materials AT THIS LINK. Recent webinar topics included: