“Congratulations to first-year Sustainable Urban Planning (SUP) student Leah Sheppard on her new, full-time position with the Urban Land Institute’s Center for Sustainability! “ Posted program director Dr. John Carruthers on Facebook.
Sheppard entered GW’s Master of Professional Studies in Sustainable Urban Planning program with impressive experience already under her belt working in local and state government, as well as the nonprofit sector. Her passion for urban planning was sparked during an internship with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council during the roll out of the Green City, Clean Waters plan, where she consulted local businesses on best practices in storm water management.
She is currently the graduate student intern for the Center for Sustainability at the Urban Land Institute (ULI) where she supports the Urban Resilience program. She is also a consultant for The World Bank’s 2017 Conference on Land and Poverty. She has recently accepted a full-time position as a project employee with ULI that starts after her classes end this May.
“The Sustainable Urban Planning program at GW has opened doors for me I never even imagined when I was researching graduate schools. Together with my peers, we've embarked on this journey of educational achievement and advancement in the workforce. We are learning from the personal experiences of experts in the field, and once we add our own diverse range of experiences, I firmly believe we are then in a position to make a strong, positive impact on the world,” said Sheppard.
Leah was also recently featured by the Association of Collegiate School of Planning (ACSP) on their website. GW’s Sustainable Urban Planning program, a member of ACSP, is designed to train the next generation of leaders in the field of urban and regional planning. ACSP recognized Leah’s accomplishments in their Student Spotlight of the month.
She is expected to graduate in the spring of 2018 from the Sustainable Urban Planning master’s degree program with a concentration in Climate Change Management and Policy.
"Leah is an incredibly sharp student with an outstanding career ahead of her. She is exactly the kind of professional that the Sustainable Urban Planning Program was designed to attract: a forward-looking planner, who will help advance the field by facing down the new and complicated problems of the 21st Century,” said Program Director Dr. John Carruthers. “We look forward to following Leah's accomplishments in the program and beyond!"