Join us for an engaging networking event that brings together urban planners and public health practitioners from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to explore the critical intersections between planning and community health. This session will highlight how planning decisions shape health outcomes, with focused discussions on food systems, the built environment, and strategies for creating healthier, more equitable communities.

Participants will hear from expert speakers, engage in Q&A sessions, and connect with colleagues across sectors to share ideas, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration. Whether you're new to cross-sector work or a seasoned professional, this event offers valuable insights and connections to support your work at the nexus of planning and public health.

1 AICP CM credit will be offered

Speakers:

Shane Bryan is the Partnership & Engagement Officer for the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, where he supports and facilitates participation across the Network of Practice for the Initiative. He serves as the liaison for all the collaborating organizations, leads outreach and recruitment activities, manages the Bloomberg Seminar Series and the Network of Practice Grants. Shane has over a decade of community engagement experience and has served on various community boards. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Communication Studies from the University of South Dakota and an Executive Master of Public Service from the Clinton School of Public Service, University of Arkansas. 

Yeeli Mui, PhD, MPH, is a Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health in the Department of International Health. Her participatory action research focuses on strengthening policy to create equitable, sustainable, and healthy communities. Dr. Mui applies an urban planning lens to obesity prevention and healthy eating by critically examining relationships between food and other systems of the built environment, such as land use, transportation, and housing. Part of a multi-country effort, she is leading an interdisciplinary team to mitigate food inequities of small-scale farmers experiencing urbanization and climate change pressures in Kerala, India. Dr. Mui is also evaluating the role of collective efficacy and collaborative governance models to drive policy and food systems change at the local level in different U.S. cities.

Shima Hamidi, PhD, is a Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health in Environmental Challenges in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering. Before joining the Bloomberg School, Dr. Hamidi was the director of the Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars, a $7.5 million center funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation at the University of Texas at Arlington. She has done extensive research on the negative consequences of car-oriented community design on public health and climate change. She has written two books and over 40 journal articles on urban sprawl and its impacts on individuals’ economic mobility, traffic safety, life expectancy, obesity and inactivity, emergence of food deserts, crime rates, and air quality.

Michael Bayer, AICP is a Senior Planner and Project Manager at Wallace Montgomery and President Elect of APA Maryland.  His work has focused on land use and transportation planning, education and public facilities planning, housing and economic development and consensus building. He serves on the Smart Growth Network’s Steering Committee promoting best practices in planning nationwide and is the lead author of Becoming an Urban Planner: A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design.

Schedule:

4:30 - 4:45 Networking social / arrival

4:45 - 4:55 Welcome from MD APA Chapter - Michael

4:55 - 5:05 Introduction from Bloomberg American Health Initiative - Shane 

5:05 - 5:15 Dr. Yeeli Mui - Presentation/discussion on work  as it relates to food systems & planning 5:15 - 5:25

Dr. Shima Hamidi - Presentation/discussion on work as it relates to health and a community's built environment 

5:25 - 5:40  Discussion / Q&A

5:40 - 5:45Closing - Michael & Shane

5:45 - 7:00 Networking