How a ‘Sweet Plan’ Became the Plan Dulce Podcast

During the pandemic, members of the American Planning Association's (APA) Latinos and Planning Division (LAP) were looking for ways to stay connected. Grecia White, then division vice chair, suggested creating a podcast. Working with then-Chair Vidal F. Márquez, Leonor Vanik, PhD, and James Castañeda, AICP, the team produced the first episode of the Plan Dulce podcast in 2021.

Today, the podcast has more than 40 episodes, available on Apple or Spotify, covering topics from transportation equity to the role of art in planning. In 2025, the division received the APA Divisions Council Award for Division Communications Excellence for Plan Dulce.

Along the way, the volunteer-run endeavor has become a place to experiment with new ideas, share professional and personal journeys, and highlight the wide range of experiences that make up the Latino/a/x planning community.

Becoming a Storytelling Community for Diverse Voices

As the podcast has evolved, so has the work behind the microphone. Márquez, now a producer, said the podcast has benefited from volunteers bringing their own skills and interests to the project, like creating a Pride Month series and developing an internship program. Contributors have also taken on everything from guest outreach and audio editing to experimentation with tools and formats.

As new volunteers join, they also help create the processes that make the podcast easier to sustain. Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeño, AICP, a producer who joined the team in 2024, helped document workflows, centralize communications and identify tools that made it easier for volunteers to collaborate. "When the podcast first began, it was a passion project, and I really wanted us to function more as an organization," she says.

Plan Dulce is a play on the words "pan dulce," or sweet bread — an apt name as the series has hit the sweet spot where planners can share personal and professional journeys, reflect on challenges they've faced, and discuss the lessons they've learned along the way. "I think some of my favorite moments are when people really open up about some of their vulnerabilities and fears that they have and how they overcame them," says Haydee Urita-Lopez, a Plan Dulce producer. "To me, that's such a breakthrough moment."

One example came from a recent series Urita-Lopez developed for Administrative Professionals Day where a planning administrator talked about choosing "faith, not fear." Reflecting on her journey from military service to a senior administrative role with the City of Los Angeles' planning department, she emphasized the value of taking risks, persevering and not allowing fear to define what's possible.

"It's really about empowering that person to share their story according to them," says Urita-Lopez. "That's really, I feel like, the true highlight of the podcast."

The Plan Dulce podcast launched in 2021. Screen shot during one of the early conversations. Clockwise from top left: Grecia White; Leonor Vanik; Silvia Vargas, FAICP; and Edna Ely-Ledesma, PhD.  Photo courtesy of Vidal F. Márquez.

The opportunity to showcase the many stories that make up the Latino/a/x planning community is important to Urita-Lopez, and she says guests have included students, members of the LGBTQ+ community, artists and professionals whose work intersects with planning in unexpected ways.

What's Next for Plan Dulce?

Plan Dulce has begun experimenting with new formats, including video episodes and interviews conducted in both English and Spanish — and the team is open to feedback. "If you have an idea, you get to explore it with us, and then we help you, and we help guide each other," says Urita-Lopez.

In November, the team plans to air a live episode during LUGARES, the division's annual virtual conference. Other projects in development include a series focused on environmental justice and climate issues, as well as a collaboration with APA's Arts and Planning Division.

Looking further out, Ortiz-Cedeño hopes to continue exploring the many intersections within the Latino/a/x planning community, as well as elevating Afro-Latino, Indigenous Latino, LGBTQ+ and women's perspectives through episodes tied to heritage and awareness months. "It's not just one story," Urita-Lopez says. "It's a spectrum of stories, and there's just so much richness in learning from each person's lived experience."

Top image: Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeño, AICP, and Vidal Márquez host the Plan Dulce podcast, a series created by the American Planning Association's Latinos and Planning Division. Photo courtesy of Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeño.