About Zoë:
As a Senior Planner, Zoë manages projects and leads teams that address the intersection of our economic, housing, and mobility needs through the lens of equity, sustainability, and resilience. The range of Zoë’s work experience spans multiple regions and sectors—spatial data analysis for energy and telecom companies in the western US states, non-profit community development work in Cleveland, OH, academic consulting for public sector economic development initiatives in Israel and Mexico, and public sector urban design review in Boston. This diversity of experience has given her a deep understanding of how social movements, governance structures and community processes initiate, activate, and animate designs. Her award-winning, multidisciplinary academic research on the US Interstate Highway System and working waterfronts coupled with her broad work experience has fine-tuned Zoë’s ability to leverage diverse source materials and methodologies in order to deliver compelling arguments. She has a knack for synthesizing qualitative and quantitative research to identify design imperatives and inform targeted action that is deeply rooted in local culture and political context. She approaches each project with curiosity, humility, and a critical eye to how the project might grow and evolve.
As part of Utile’s JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion) work, Zoë has introduced a community organizer model for planning projects and has helped to integrate redlining research and native land acknowledgements into Utile’s practice.
