Women & Planning Division Leadership

Corrin Hoegen Wendell, AICP, is the Director of Community Development & Planning for the City of Little Canada, Chair of the APA Women & Planning Division, and the Founder and Executive Director of YEP! Youth Engagement Planning, a non-profit organization that teaches youth about urban planning. 

A practicing planner with extensive experience providing planning, architectural, and research services, Corrin's specialties include regional planning, land use, zoning administration, community engagement, and urban design. Corrin holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Masters of City and Regional Planning from the Ohio State University as well as holds the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) national certification. 

Corrin is passionate about giving back to the planning community and serves in various capacities for the APA Minnesota Chapter, the MN Women in Planning Committee, and the Youth Engagement Planning Coordinator. She also serves as an AICP (CPE) Certified Planning Exam Contributor, APA NPC Session Proposal Reviewer, AICP Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) Site Visitor, Peer Reviewer for the Journal of Planning Education and Research, Divisions Council EDI Committee Task Force Chair, Equity CM Task Force, and a mentor to planning students and young professionals from Ohio State University and APA.

Melissa Dickens, AICP is the Strategic Planning and Policy Manager for the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission in Tampa, Florida. She has served as a speaker and moderator for state and national conference sessions related to leadership and career development, as well as authored mentoring and professional growth content for APA's Career Services. Melissa currently serves as the Director of Membership for APA’s Women and Planning Division and is a member of APA’s Water and Planning Network Steering Committee. She has over 13 years of diverse planning experience in the Tampa Bay area, and previously served as the APA Florida Sun Coast Section Chair.

Caroline serves as a Project Manager for Renaissance Planning, based in the firm’s Durham, North Carolina office. Caroline’s professional experiences and academic research in the areas of health, sustainability, resilience, and community development have given her unique understanding of these concepts, and how they work, to effectively incorporate them into planning. Caroline has specialized experience in healthy cities, economic and community development, strategic planning, small area planning, community recovery following natural disasters, resilience, local food systems, and a variety of techniques for facilitating community engagement and outreach. Caroline has served as the Director of Communications on the Women & Planning Division’s Executive Committee since 2019 and she serves on the City of Durham’s Public Art Committee. In her free time, Caroline enjoys knitting, reading, powerlifting, and spending time with her family.

Katelynn Wintz, PP, AICP (she/her) is a Senior Planner for the City of Colorado Springs Department of Planning & Development. Katelynn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Ramapo College and a Masters of Arts in Geography from West Chester University. She has 6 years of experience in the public sector specializing in development review and long-range planning.  Katelynn volunteers on the Executive Board of APA’s Women & Planning Division as the Director of Programs.

Margaret Wallace Brown is the Director of the City of Houston’s Planning & Development Department, Margaret is Houston’s top planning and development official. The position oversees the City’s land-development regulatory functions and neighborhood planning programs, including historic preservation, as well as the City’s GIS office. Director Wallace Brown serves Secretary of the City’s Planning Commission and the Historic Commission. Margaret has served the in the City Planning Department for thirty-three years. She began her career as an interiors architect for Interfin Corporation after obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from the University of Houston. In addition to AICP, she also holds a Charrette System Certification from the National Charrette Institute, accreditation from the Congress for New Urbanism and is a Certified Public Manager from Sam Houston State University Continuing Education.

Email: kzanon@portmoody.ca 

Gillian Hagstrom is a second year Masters of Urban Planning student at the University of Washington in Seattle, with an anticipated graduation date of June 2021. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from the University of Calgary. Gillian currently works as a community engagement intern with the City of Bellevue Transportation Department. She previously worked in current planning and permit issuance for the City of Calgary, Canada, and the City of Mercer Island. She is the Professionals Council and Alumni Liaison for UW’s Planning Students Association. Her interests include community engagement, land use policy, and neighborhood planning. Gillian lives in Seattle with her husband, Neil, and her chocolate lab, Mara.

Christine Lan is a Senior Project Manager with Meridian Consultants LLC, a planning firm in Los Angeles, California. She has been in the Environmental Planning sector for eight years and has a diverse planning background in transportation, educational facilities, and residential projects. Prior to working at Meridian Consultants, Ms. Lan worked at Los Angeles Unified School District to help build and maintain k-12 schools and facilities. Ms. Lan also worked at the California Department of Transportation up and down the state of California to help build and maintain critical state transportation infrastructure and negotiate permits. During her spare time, she enjoys traveling around the world, learning about the newest cleantech and women's issues, and hanging out with her two kitties Charlie and Sesame.

Past Chair