APA Foundation: Transforming Scholarship Recipients into APA Leaders

In 2011, Lauren Trice, AICP, was awarded a Judith McManus Price Scholarship — and began her journey from scholarship recipient to APA leader.

When she was a first-year student at the University of Pennsylvania, the funds allowed Trice to defray some of the usual costs of attending graduate school. The scholarship, however, ended up being much more than a check. The scholarship connected Trice to APA, transforming what can sometimes feel like an intimidating national association into a place to connect with likeminded peers.

"The scholarship itself started my involvement in APA. I became the head of the student organization the next year and ran the mentorship program at the University of Pennsylvania. And, then [I received] the fellowship in Urban Design and Preservation [from the division] and that led me to become the communications person for the division and got me really involved with how APA works — and now I'm the chair-elect for the Urban Design and Preservation Division."

"The scholarship helped me get on a path to become a leader for APA at the national level."
—Lauren Trice, AICP, Scholarship Recipient, Chair-Elect for Urban Design and Preservation Division

Trice's planning career, however, started before heading back to graduate school and officially declaring her major. A student of historic preservation during her undergraduate years, Trice studied abroad in Denmark and learned more about design.

Trice also honed her outreach and community engagement skills in Washington D.C., working with partners and residents to understand their perspectives around historic buildings: How could communities balance the past with the future? What field brings architecture, preservation, and people together?

A Boost from an APA Division

Returning to school to study planning with an emphasis on historic preservation was the perfect fit for Trice. She further leveraged her fellowship from the Urban Design and Preservation Division to continue to work at the intersection of design and preservation — and to find her "people" at APA.

"I'm a big fan of divisions," Trice said. "Take a division like Urban Design and Preservation: we try to help you to explore that interest. Whether your passion is economic development or sustainability or working in small towns, it's really great to have a home at APA and people in Divisions to help you focus on what you want your career to be."

But, like many planners, it took time for Trice to discover planning, to figure out that her interests and skills added up a practice, a profession, a field. Working with the Colorado Chapter's Youth Committee, She is hoping to make it easier for planners of the future to see that possibility sooner:

"We need to work towards a day when an eight-year old says: 'I want to be a planner when I grow up.'"

Trice at the City of Louisville

Today, Trice works as an associate planner for the City of Louisville, Colorado's Planning and Building Safety Department. She manages the city's Historic Preservation Program and develops new strategies for community engagement. She also works on current planning projects, continuing to balance the lens of historic preservation with growth and innovation.

Residents in downtown Louisville, Colorado. Photo courtesy City of Louisville's Preservation Master Plan.

Adopted in October 2015, the Louisville's Preservation Master Plan provides a framework for the city's Historic Preservation Program. As noted in the plan, the document serves as a guide for proactive decision making over the next 20 years, combining the city's existing preservation efforts with community requests.

The five goals of this plan are:

• Pursue increasingly effective, efficient, user-friendly, and voluntary-based preservation practices
• Promote public awareness of preservation and understanding of Louisville's cultural, social and architectural history
• Encourage voluntary preservation of significant archaeological, historical, and architectural resources
• Foster preservation partnerships
• Continue leadership in preservation incentives and enhance customer service

Interested in Investing in Future Leaders Like Lauren Trice?

The APA Foundation awards scholarships to make the planning profession more diverse and accessible to those of limited means. If you would like to learn more about investing in future planners, contact us at scholarships@planning.org.

Top image: One hundred years of Main Street, Louisville, Colorado: 1915 on the left and 2015 on the right. Image courtesy City of Louisville's Preservation Master Plan.